Overview
Consent Based Social Security Number Verification, usually shortened to CBSV, is a fee based service operated by the Social Security Administration. It compares a name, Social Security number, and date of birth against SSA records and reports whether they match.
That is the entire service. It is worth stating plainly at the start because CBSV is routinely described as identity verification, and it is not. It confirms that a combination of details exists in government records. It says nothing about who supplied them.
CBSV is also the direct counterpart to an SSN trace, and the 2 are frequently confused. A trace searches commercial databases and returns a history. CBSV queries the government and returns a single answer. Neither substitutes for the other, and most background checks include the first without ever using the second.
The Question It Answers
CBSV answers one question: do this name, this Social Security number, and this date of birth match what the Social Security Administration has on file for that number?
The answer is yes or no. There is no partial match, no confidence score, and no explanation. If any element fails to line up, the response is a non match, and the service does not indicate which element caused it.
That last point has practical weight. A non match can come from a legal name change never reported to the SSA, a hyphenated or compound surname recorded differently, a transposed digit in the number, a date of birth entered incorrectly on the form, or an actual mismatch. The response looks identical in every case.
What Comes Back
| Verification result | A match or non match indicator for the submitted name, number, and date of birth. |
| Death indicator | A flag if SSA records show the number holder is deceased. |
CBSV returns no personal information. It does not send back a name, an address, a date of birth, or any other detail from SSA records. The requester submits information and learns only whether it matched. Nothing flows in the other direction.
This design is deliberate. The service was built to let a business confirm information it already holds, not to let it obtain information it does not.
The Consent Requirement
The word “consent” in the name is not decorative. The Social Security Administration will not run a verification without the number holder’s written authorization, given on Form SSA-89.
The requirements around that form are stricter than most consent documents in screening:
| Signature | Must be physically signed. Electronic and digital signatures are not accepted. A hand printed signature is permitted only where the number holder also supplies a statement confirming it is their usual signature. |
| Validity | 90 days from the date signed, and the form covers a single verification. A second verification requires a second signed form. |
| Who may sign | The number holder. A parent or legal guardian may sign for a minor, with proof of the relationship. A spouse, attorney, or holder of a power of attorney may not sign in the individual’s place. |
| Specificity | The form names the party requesting the verification. An authorization signed for one requester does not permit a different one to submit a request. |
| Retention | The requesting party must keep the signed form for 5 years, as paper or as an electronic image, so that it can be produced during a compliance review. |
The physical signature requirement is the one that shapes how CBSV actually operates. It cannot be folded into an electronic onboarding flow the way other screening authorizations can, which is a large part of why the service is ordered deliberately rather than run by default.
This structure also means CBSV cannot be run quietly. The individual knows the verification is happening, knows who is requesting it, and has signed a document saying so.
Who Can Use It
CBSV is not open access. A business must register with the Social Security Administration, sign a user agreement governing how the service may be used, and pay both an enrollment cost and a per transaction fee.
The user agreement restricts the service to verifying information for a legitimate business purpose with the number holder’s consent. It is not a general lookup tool, and compliance is enforced rather than assumed. Registered users are subject to a compliance review conducted by an independent certified public accountant, who reports findings to the Social Security Administration. SSA sets the frequency, generally expects the review annually, and may add further reviews or inspect a user’s place of business. Where a review finds that a user failed to obtain consent properly or otherwise breached the agreement, SSA may suspend access and may cancel the agreement entirely.
Most employers that use CBSV reach it through a screening company rather than enrolling directly, since the enrollment overhead rarely makes sense for the volume a single employer generates.
What CBSV Does Not Do
The gap between what CBSV confirms and what people assume it confirms is the most important thing on this page.
- It does not verify identity. A match proves the submitted details correspond to a real record. It does not prove the person who supplied them is the person the record describes. Anyone holding another person’s name, number, and date of birth would produce the same match.
- It does not establish work authorization. Employment eligibility runs through an entirely separate federal process, covered on our DHS E-Verify page.
- It does not report immigration or citizenship status. Neither appears in the response.
- It does not return an address or name history. That is what an SSN trace produces, from an entirely different source.
- It does not return criminal records, employment history, or anything else about the individual.
| CBSV | Open to businesses generally, subject to enrollment and a signed user agreement. Consent must be physically signed on Form SSA-89. |
| eCBSV | Restricted to a defined category of permitted entities, principally financial institutions and the service providers acting for them, and intended for fraud prevention in credit transactions. Consent may be given electronically. |
The signature rule is the sharpest difference between them and the source of most of the confusion. eCBSV accepts an electronic signature as that term is defined in federal electronic signature law. CBSV does not, and the same form that satisfies one service will not satisfy the other. Anyone reading that electronic consent is acceptable is reading about eCBSV.
The practical takeaway for screening is that eCBSV is not the employment screening tool. Where a background check includes a Social Security verification, it is nearly always CBSV.
Three Checks That Get Confused
Three separate government services involve a Social Security number, and they are regularly mistaken for one another.
| CBSV | Social Security Administration. Confirms that a name, number, and date of birth match SSA records. Requires the individual’s written consent. Available before or after hire. |
| DHS E-Verify | Department of Homeland Security, working with SSA. Confirms that a person is authorized to work in the United States. Run after hire, from Form I-9 information. A different question entirely. |
| SSNVS | Social Security Administration. Confirms that employee names and numbers match, for wage reporting. Free to employers, and restricted to payroll use. Not permitted for pre-employment screening. |
The distinction that causes the most trouble is between CBSV and E-Verify. A CBSV match says a record exists and lines up. It says nothing about whether the person may legally work, and it cannot be used in place of the employment eligibility process.
Where It Appears in Screening
The Social Security Administration lists background check providers among the typical users of CBSV, alongside banking, mortgage, credit, and licensing businesses. Even so, it is not part of a standard employment background check. Most reports include an SSN trace, which costs little and does the necessary scoping work, and stop there.
Where CBSV does appear, it is usually because identity confirmation carries unusual weight for the role or the industry. Positions in financial services, roles subject to regulatory identity requirements, and situations where an employer wants government confirmation rather than database inference are the common cases. It also appears occasionally as a follow up step when something in a trace warrants resolution.
Because it requires a separately signed authorization and carries a per transaction cost, CBSV is generally ordered deliberately for specific positions rather than applied across all hiring.
Where It Fits Under the FCRA
When a screening company obtains a CBSV result for employment purposes and reports it to an employer, that result forms part of a consumer report. Written disclosure and authorization are required before the report is requested, and the individual has the right to dispute information that is wrong.
The SSA consent form is a separate requirement and does not replace the FCRA authorization. A CBSV run through a screening company involves both, and they exist for different reasons. Our FCRA Overview covers the federal requirements in full.
A non match cannot quietly end a candidacy. Where it contributes to a decision not to hire, the required notice steps apply, which matters here because the most common causes of a non match are clerical. See The Adverse Action Process.
State law adds further requirements in some places. Our State Laws Overview covers how the states differ and links to the current position for each one.