 Privacy
Groups, Legislators Announce Agenda to Combat Identity
Theft (March 2003).
A coalition of privacy groups joined a bi-partisan
group of legislators March 11 to announce their support
for comprehensive reforms to protect consumers' privacy
and fight the growing crisis of identity theft.
"Identity theft victims can incur a substantial
loss of money and time, not to mention countless headaches",
said Rob Schneider, Senior Staff Attorney for Consumers
Union. "It's tough to stay a step ahead of those
who perpetrate this type of white collar crime, but
it can and must be done. The Texas Legislature, law
enforcement authorities, the financial services industry
and even consumers themselves, must work together to
halt this growing epidemic."
Luke Metzger, advocate for TexPIRG, said the recent
major theft of social security numbers at the University
of Texas clearly shows that the Texas legislature needs
to make privacy a top priority this session. "We
need to prevent it from happening in the first place
by restricting the availability of our private financial
information and we need to give consumers more rights
to protect their good names," James said.
Identity theft is a growing crisis in Texas. Last
year, more than 14,000 Texans were victims of identity
theft, making it the leading complaint to the Federal
Trade Commission. Nationwide, complaints doubled in
2002. Victims often face months or years and hundreds
or thousands of dollars in out of pocket expenses clearing
their names. Easy access to confidential identifying
information, including Social Security Numbers, has
led to an epidemic of identity theft.
The coalition also pointed to the threat identity theft
poses to national security. For instance, a terrorist
suspect reportedly connected to the Al Qaeda network
was recently charged with selling the SSNs of twenty-one
people who were members of the Bally's Health Club in
Cambridge, Massachusetts. The SSNs were sold in order
to create false passports and credit lines for bank
accounts.
"The events of September 11 showed us how identity
theft can also facilitate terrorism or raise funds for
terrorist activities," said Cathie Adams, President
of the Texas Eagle Forum. "The Texas legislature
needs to pass comprehensive reforms to mitigate risks
of identity theft and the risk that terrorists will
use credit or identity fraud to harm the nation."
"This legislation will stop the information hemorrhage
that occurs after someone's privacy has been violated,"
said Senator Rodney Ellis.
The coalition pointed to the following bills to help
fight identity theft:
-
SB 473 (Ellis) Allows victims of identity
theft to freeze their credit records to prevent
more credit from being issued and restricts use
of Social Security Numbers
-
HB 176 (McCall) and SB 235 (Fraser)
Truncates credit card numbers on cash register receipts
-
HB 254 (Kolkhorst) Gives prosecutors right
to try case where victim resides, instead of where
the crime occurred
-
SB 611 (Nelson), HB 1026 (Hupp),
HB 1053 (Rodriguez) Restricts use of SSNs
-
HB 1429 (Keel) Gives victim right to police
report (essential to clearing their name) and bans
the unauthorized trafficking of personal financial
records
-
SB 136 (Ellis) and HB 56 (Wise)
Prohibits businesses, including Internet Service
Providers, from selling personal information without
permission 
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