Here's an article I saw while coming in to work about the link between changing your name and being a notorious identity thief. The crimes are committed by changing your name, getting a driver's license, stealing the appropriate social security number, opening a bank account, and writing a lot of bad checks on someone else's credit. Strange that they are picking on the name change as the weak link... I would personally pick the whole step of stealing the appropriate social security number myself.
Also, Lindsay got caught drunk driving again. I've never known someone who needed a chauffeur more.
A quick search turned up New York state's petition, which also doesn't ask for an SSN, although it does ask for quite a bit. Was yours as thorough, or was it shorter? Did yours say "WHEREFORE, petitioner respectfully prays for an order"!?! I love the weird legalese that NYS has lying around...
I like it when paranoia forces the government to make things more bureaucratic and difficult. It makes me realize just how we got into this crazy twisted situation where nothing to do with the government is straight forward in the first place.
Oh, and your state's petition is here, if you need a little nostalgia today...