Internet or not, you are being paid by a US company and they have to abide by US tax law! And US law requires reporting of income paid to ALL people inside the US or outside the US. No one is exempt unless there are special tax agreements between the two countries and then you have to provide proof of that.  And, collection of a tax number would not be public information. It would be handled privately as any ID requirement they would ask for. So what are you afraid of? Are you one of the scammers?

My SSN is available to Jake and Dave anytime they ask for it!

--
I don't fear God anymore. Anything he/she can do to me now is only adding insult to injury!