Absolutely agree with this - I was advised by a Blackbaud Tech Support 3-4 years ago to utilize the SSN field exactly as you describe. We use it for a student ID # to confirm matches between BEM and RE and do imports. Losing this will make that connectivity impossible, and there's no reliable solution to fill the void without paying $$$$ for even more software like Importomatic.

We also use SSN for our college ID (students & staff). We prefer this field b/c it is one of the fields allowed for import and because it only allows a unique entry per constituent, it flags us if we try to enter a constituent who's ID is already in the system. Our IDs stay with students even if they become staff, so it's a wonderful way to confirm that a person is the same and is not a duplicate. Losing this functionality in the move to webview would not be ideal.

Many of my clients use this field for importing staff payroll gifts, and other imports - ability to search and see in web view is important!