To help prevent "identity theft," the FAA is urging any pilot who holds an airman certificate that uses his or her Social Security number as the certificate number to change it to a unique number. Pilots can find a "request for change of certificate number form" online at http://registry.faa.gov/docs/SSN_Change.pdf or request the form by calling the FAA's Airman Certification Branch at (405) 954-3261. The form gives pilots the option of allowing the FAA to use Social Security numbers internally as ID numbers or eliminating them from all FAA records-although either option will prompt the agency to assign a unique number for the pilot 's airman certificate. It should be noted that the recently reopened online pilot database does not list Social Security numbers or pilot certificate numbers as a matter of policy. Nevertheless, the FAA believes there is sufficient chance that such data could be gleaned from lost or stolen certificates, and this threat prompted its recommendation that pilots change their certificate numbers. >From AIN