# US Social Security Number (SSN)
## Availability
[\[SINCE Orbeon Forms 2024.1.2\]](https://doc.orbeon.com/release-notes/orbeon-forms-2024.1.2)
## What it does
This component represents a US Social Security Number (SSN).
US Social Security Number (SSN) field with obscured value
It allows the user to enter a Social Security Number in the format `078-05-1120`, with or without the dashes.
* The user input is sanitized to remove any non-digit characters.
* The user input is validated:
* to ensure that it contains exactly 9 digits, otherwise the field value is considered invalid
* and to reject known invalid patterns, such as numbers starting with `000`, `666`, or `9`, or numbers that are all the same digit (e.g., `111-11-1111`)
* The value is formatted as `078-05-1120` when displaying the value.
* The value is stored in the database as a string of 9 digits including two separator dashes, for example `078-05-1120`.
*NOTE: Storing the value with dashes is a design choice which seems to match the most common usage.*
## Options
Because a Social Security Number is a sensitive piece of information, by default the value of the field is not shown entirely:
* In editable modes, the value is obscured, like a password field.
* In readonly modes, such as the View and PDF modes, only the last four digits are shown, like `•••-••-1120`.
For editable modes, you can configure the field to behave in the following ways:
| Mode | Description | Example |
| ---------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------- |
| Always visible | Field is always shown in plain text | `078-05-1120` |
| Always obscured | Field is always hidden | `•••••••••` |
| Reveal on demand | Field is hidden by default, but can be revealed when the user clicks a "Reveal" checkbox. Useful for verifying the value while keeping it hidden from onlookers by default. | `078-05-1120` or `•••••••••` |
US Social Security Number (SSN) field with revealed value
For readonly modes, such as the View and PDF modes, you can configure the field to behave in the following ways:
| Mode | Description | Example |
| --------------------- | ------------------------------------- | ------------- |
| Visible | Field is fully shown in plain text | `078-05-1120` |
| Obscured | Field is fully hidden | `•••-••-••••` |
| Show last four digits | Only the last four digits are visible | `•••-••-1120` |
US Social Security Number (SSN) field with partially-revealed value
These options are controlled in Form Builder or using configuration properties:
* at the form control level, using the "Control Settings" dialog
* at the form level, using the "Form Settings" dialog
* in configuration properties
The default properties are as follows:
```xml
```
## Data security and GDPR
Because the SSN is a sensitive piece of information, we recommend that you handle this data in the following ways:
* First, consider not requesting this information from users unless absolutely necessary.
* Second, if you request it, consider making only transient use of it, such as calling a verification service, without storing it in your database.
* Finally, if you do store it, consider encrypting it in your database, and ensure that you comply with data protection regulations such as GDPR. Orbeon Forms [supports encryption at rest](https://doc.orbeon.com/form-builder/advanced/field-level-encryption), which satisfies this requirement.
## See also
* Blog post: [Field-level encryption](https://blog.orbeon.com/2019/04/field-level-encryption.html)
* [Field-level encryption](https://doc.orbeon.com/form-builder/advanced/field-level-encryption)
* [Basic Settings](https://doc.orbeon.com/form-builder/form-editor/control-settings)
* [US Employer Identification Number (EIN)](https://doc.orbeon.com/form-runner/component/us-ein)
* [US Phone Number](https://doc.orbeon.com/form-runner/component/us-phone)
* [US State](https://doc.orbeon.com/form-runner/component/us-state)
