Functionality creep is what occurs when an item, process, or procedure designed for a specific purpose ends up serving another purpose for which it was not intended.
Example
In the United States, when the Social Security system was created in the early 20th century, each worker was issued a unique, nine digit, Social Security number (SSN). These SSNs were created for the sole purpose of keeping track of a person's contributions to the Social Security System and to determine his eligibility for benefits. Social Security in the United States is a social insurance program funded through a dedicated payroll tax. ... This article needs cleanup. ...
Due to functionality creep, the fact that each person has a unique SSN has led them be misused as a de facto identification number for each person. SSNs are often requested for other non-Social Security related government functions, such as income tax filing and passport issuance, as well as some non-government functions such as tracking credit history, employee ID numbers, and school records. De facto is a Latin expression that means in fact or in practice. It is commonly used as opposed to de jure (meaning by law) when referring to matters of law or governance or technique (such as standards), that are found in the common experience as created or developed without... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... The title page of European Union passports bears the name European Union, then the name of the issuing country, in the languages of all EU countries. ...
SSNs are not supposed to be used for the purpose of identification. Early Social Security cards, in fact, had a notice printed on them "Not to be used for identification". The notice is not printed on later editions of the card but it is still valid. Following a number of security breaches of administrative and school computers resulting in large-scale identity theft in 2005 a bill has been proposed which makes the use of SSNs as identifiers of students illegal. Identity theft (or identity fraud) is the deliberate assumption of another persons identity, usually to gain access to their finances or frame them for a crime. ...
See also
Creeping featurism, in software development, when a computer program ends up doing more and more.
Scope creep, in project management, when a project creeps out of its intended scope.
Functionalitycreep is what occurs when an item, process, or procedure designed for a specific purpose ends up serving another purpose for which it was not intended.
Due to functionalitycreep, the fact that each person has a unique SSN has led them be misused as a de facto identification number for each person.
SSNs are often requested for other non-Social Security related government functions, such as income tax filing and passport issuance, as well as some non-government functions such as tracking credit history, employee ID numbers, and school records.
Creeping featurism, or creeping featuritis, is a phrase used to describe software which over-emphasizes new features to the detriment of other design goals, such as simplicity, compactness, stability, or bug reduction.
Creeping featurism is often accompanied by the mistaken belief that "one small feature" will add zero incremental cost to a project, where cost can be money, time, effort, or energy.
Functionalitycreep, when a physical document or other non-computer related procedure ends up serving unexpected or unplanned purposes.
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