More Laws to Prevent ID Theft?

When it comes to laws protecting consumers from identity theft, much of the legislation is at the state level, and some states have better privacy laws than others. However, the federal government has been making moves over the past few years to pass laws attempting to prevent identity theft, including the forming of the Identity Theft Task Force. Now there are a few more laws have been reintroduced to the Senate that will hopefully help protect consumer privacy.

The first one, the Notification of Risk to Personal Data Act would require, as the name implies, would require businesses and government agencies to notify a consumer of a security breach involving the individual's personal data among other things. It would also require a description of the type of data compromised as well as a number for consumers to call for more information. The media should also be notified as well as individual consumers. These and other requirements in this bill hope to give people the information they need if their data is compromised so they can take the necessary precautions to prevent or at least limit identity theft.

The second one, the Social Security Number Misuse Prevention Act, could be highly effective if properly enforced. This bill would prohibit the sale or display of someone's Social Security number without consent. It would also prohibit government agencies from displaying Social Security number on public records in print or electronically. This is a great idea. Too long have companies been sharing this data with affiliates or selling it for profit, and removing Social Security numbers would make an identity thief work a lot harder to obtain this valuable information.

We'll see if these bills pass. You can read more about both of them here.