Today,
Gov. Kulongoski called for strong new consumer protections to combat
identity theft. The announcement comes in the midst of a rash of data
security breaches and a national identity theft epidemic. Oregon
currently ranks 13th for identity theft nationally, according to the
Federal Trade Commission.
The
2005 Legislature considered, but did not pass, OSPIRG-backed bills to
provide Oregon consumers with protections found in other states.
“We
applaud Governor Kulongoski for taking action to stop the flood of
information into the hands of identity thieves, and stop them from
getting credit in victims names,” said Laura Etherton, Consumer
Advocate with Oregon State Public Interest Research Group (OSPIRG).
Recent
data security breaches, which put consumers at risk of identity theft,
include Providence Home Services’ loss of over 350,000 patients’
private information, data broker ChoicePoint’s selling of 145,000
individuals’ personal information to an international ring of identity
thieves, and Bank of America’s loss of data tapes with over 1.2 million
customers’ personal information, among others.
Identity
theft occurs when someone uses a consumer’s personal information,
without his permission, to commit fraud or other crimes. If identity
thieves have individuals’ personal information, such as social security
number, they can often get credit issued to them in the victim’s name.
“Collecting,
selling and trading personal information is big business for credit
report agencies and data brokers,” said Etherton, “careless treatment
of this private information makes it easy for thieves to access it and
to get credit – whether it’s a mortgage, credit card or charge account
– issued fraudulently.”
OSPIRG
applauded Gov. Kulongoski’s support for the four key consumer
protections needed to comprehensively address the problem. One of the
key protections is a requirement that companies notify consumers and
law enforcement of any breach immediately. Such security breach
notification laws are currently on the books in 23 states, but not in
Oregon.
The
other three key protections include limits on the display of social
security numbers, proper destruction of documents that include personal
information and a new consumer right – the right to request a “security
freeze” on your credit reports, to block would-be identity thieves from
getting credit in your name.
With
a security freeze, a consumer can block access to his or her credit
report, through the use of a PIN. To initiate a security freeze the
consumer must take the proactive step of sending a certified letter to
a credit reporting agency. It does not hamper a consumer’s ability to
use existing credit, or seek new credit, as a consumer can temporarily
remove the freeze by using the PIN. Currently, twelve states have
Security Freeze laws on the books.
