Privacy is a big issue these days, as state and federal lawmakers seek to restrict the sale or transfer of customer information by private businesses. Fair enough. It is reasonable to limit the use of customer information, as long as those limits don’t cripple a company’s legitimate ability to do business.

But ironically, at the same time the government is trumpeting its efforts to protect your privacy, that very same government is violating your privacy.

Case in point: On October 1, following federal law, Washington state implemented a new requirement that says anyone seeking a driver’s license must provide their Social Security number to the state Department of Licensing. The same requirement has been in effect since 1998 for people seeking a business license, commercial driver’s license, marriage license — even a hunting or fishing license. In all, 14 state agencies now require people to hand over their Social Security numbers.

The stated purpose is to make it easier to track down “deadbeat parents” who owe child support. Of course, the law presumes that somebody who refuses to pay court-ordered child support wouldn’t fish without a license. It also presumes that someone who refuses to pay child support will provide their correct Social Security number.

Common sense aside, the new law is all risk and no benefit. The Department of Social and Health Services already has the Social Security numbers of almost 97 percent of those paying child support. Agency insiders admit that, even with the new law, they probably won’t get numbers for the remaining parents who exist on the fringes of society. What the government will get is the Social Security numbers of five million innocent bystanders.

For crooks, obtaining a person’s Social Security number is like getting a key to the vault. It unlocks all sorts of sensitive personal and financial information. Criminals use stolen Social Security numbers to obtain fraudulent loans and run up credit card bills that later land on the doorstep of their hapless victims. Analysts say this type of “identity theft” is on the increase, with 500,000 to 700,000 new victims expected this year alone.

Not to worry, say state officials. The Department of Licensing will protect your sensitive information. But in reality, the agency has already had problems protecting its information. Earlier this year, the agency discovered that somebody was selling Washington state driver’s license information over the Internet. They traced the leak to one of the agency’s four service bureaus — companies who contract with Licensing to provide license information to insurers. The agency launched an investigation and eventually terminated the service bureau’s contract. Since then, the agency has found additional irregularities and may take action against a second service bureau. Meanwhile, your information has already been exposed to anyone surfing the Internet.

But state officials shouldn’t get all the heat. Congress created the problem when it passed a law in 1996 threatening to withhold federal welfare funds if states did not pass laws to collect everybody’s Social Security numbers.

In the end, Washington state lawmakers capitulated rather than forego $500 million in welfare funds. So now, in the eyes of the law, everybody is a suspected “deadbeat parent” — even people who don’t have kids.

This law is a perfect example of how good intentions can lead to bad policy and how “one-size-fits-all” government fits no one. There must be a better way.

(Editor’s Note: Don Brunell is president of the Association of Washington Business, Washington state’s chamber of commerce. Visit AWB on the Web at www.awb.org.).