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Senior Alert
State Laws Protecting Seniors from Identity Theft,
Fraud Repealed Today in House
Consumer groups
critical of action by House Financial Services Committee
March 17, 2006 - The House Financial Services
Committee voted today to repeal strict state notification and credit
freeze laws that have helped to protect senior citizens and other
consumers from identity theft and financial fraud. These laws provide
essential protections that allow consumers to prevent identity thieves
from opening credit accounts in their names and require companies to
inform consumers when their personal data -- such as their Social
Security and credit card numbers -- have become compromised. Consumer
groups issued a news release critical of the action.
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"It is ironic that after a year in which over 55
million Americans' identities were put at risk through preventable data
breaches, the House Financial Services Committee would repeal state laws
that have protected consumers from identity theft," said Susanna
Montezemolo, policy analyst with Consumers Union, nonprofit publisher of
Consumer Reports magazine.
Montezemolo added, "This bill is like buying a fire
detector after your house has burned down-it is too little, too late. We
shouldn't have to wait until an identity thief has already bought a
Lexus in your name in order to have the right protect yourself. "
Ed Mierzwinski, Consumer Program Director for the
U.S. Public Interest Research Group, said: "Today, the Financial
Services Committee voted for the worst data security bill ever. Rather
than voting to protect consumers, the Committee made things worse. All
consumers should have the right to sleep at night without worrying about
identity theft -- this bill takes us in the exact wrong direction."
There are nearly 10 million identity theft victims
each year, according the Federal Trade Commission, or an estimated 19
identity theft victims a minute. The crime has cost businesses,
financial institutions and consumers billions of dollars in recent
years.
The Federal Trade Commission recently negotiated
the largest civil penalty ever -- $10 million -- for data broker
ChoicePoint's admission that it sold 163,000 personal financial records
to identity thieves.
Consumers and the media only learned of the
ChoicePoint incident after Californians were notified, based on that
state's strict notification requirements.
Since then, consumers have come to expect that when
their personal data is at risk, they will be notified. Eleven states
have stricter notification standards than the federal bill, including
the California law that resulted in ChoicePoint public awareness.
Eight states have freeze laws stronger than those
in the bill: California, Colorado, Connecticut, Louisiana, Maine,
Nevada, New Jersey, and North Carolina. All of these laws would be
eliminated under the measure.
Mierzwinski said, "This is just the first step in
the legislative process, and other committees have jurisdiction over
this issue. Ideally, this bill will not become law and states will
continue to innovate in the area of identity theft and privacy
protections."
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