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<a href="http://www.state.ny.us/governor/press/06/0926061.html" eudora="autourl">
http://www.state.ny.us/governor/press/06/0926061.html</a><br><br>
<font size=2 color="#000080"><b>FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:<br>
September 26, 2006 <br><br>
</font><div align="center"><font size=4 color="#000080">GOVERNOR SIGNS
NEW LAWS TO PROTECT NEW YORKERS AGAINST IDENTITY THEFT <br>
</div>
<hr>
</font><font size=3>New Laws Further Protect New York Consumers from
Becoming Victims of Identity Theft <br><br>
</b>Governor George E. Pataki announced today that he signed three
measures into law that will further protect New York’s consumers and
their privacy. These bills establish the Consumer Communication Records
Privacy Act, place limits on the use and disclosure of Social Security
account numbers, and further clarify and define what is considered a
computer crime. <br><br>
“These important new laws are yet another step towards ensuring that New
York consumers do not fall victim to identity theft,” Governor Pataki
said. “As criminals continue to come up with new schemes to steal
consumer’s personal information, we must enact stronger laws that ensure
the safety and privacy of our consumers and protect them from identity
theft. These three laws address the needs of our consumers and their
families, while continuing to demonstrate that New York remains a leader
in the fight against identity theft." <br><br>
Senate Majority Leader Joseph L. Bruno said, “The Senate has always made
it a priority to protect consumers from identity theft and do everything
we can to strengthen and update our laws to protect people’s personal
information from theft and abuse. With these three new laws, sponsored by
Senators Charles Fuschillo, Tom Morahan and Jim Wright, we are
strengthening and updating our laws to further protect consumers.”
<br><br>
Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver said, “Identity theft is a growing
problem with severe consequences. Victims face significant financial
losses and complicated credit problems that could take years to correct.
These measures continue our on-going efforts to protect consumers and
increase penalties for offenders.” <br><br>
Teresa A. Santiago, Chairperson and Executive Director of the New York
State Consumer Protection Board, said, “These new laws will give New
Yorkers -- and New York law enforcement agencies -- an enormous amount of
help in fighting Identity Theft, as well as malicious attacks on home
computers. We encourage all New Yorkers to take advantage of these new
laws by filing complaints and letting the authorities know when there are
violations of these laws.” <br><br>
<b>Consumer Communication Records Privacy Act</b> <br><br>
The Consumer Communication Records Privacy Act, sponsored by Senator
Charles Fuschillo and Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz (S.6723/A.12033),
protects consumers by prohibiting the sale, fraudulent transfer, or
solicitation of a consumers telephone records without consent from the
consumer. This information is confidential and protected by both
telephone companies and telephone consumers, and unauthorized release of
telephone records harms consumers by taking away their sense of privacy,
safety and security. <br><br>
Senator Charles J. Fuschillo, Jr., Chairman of the Senate's Consumer
Protection Committee, said, “The fact that someone could so easily invade
the privacy of another by obtaining their phone records was so offensive
that we needed to act. This new law will prevent the distribution of
one's calls without their consent.” <br><br>
Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz said, “Until the signing of this bill, one’s
cell phone logs could be sold by unscrupulous individuals. This bill
would close that loophole in the law and provide important protections
for cell phone users in New York.” <br><br>
<b>Protecting Social Security Numbers</b> <br><br>
To guard against the potential misuse of Social Security account numbers
(SSN), Senator Thomas Morahan and Assemblywoman Audrey Pheffer sponsored
a bill (S.6909C/A.10076D) that will enact a new law placing limits on the
use and dissemination of this information. Specifically, the new law:
<ul>
<li>prohibits the intentional communication of an individual’s SSN to the
general public;
<li>restrict businesses’ ability to print an individual’s SSN on mailings
or on any card or tag required to access products, services, or benefits;
<li>prohibit businesses from requiring an individual to transmit his or
her encrypted SSN over the Internet; and
<li>Require businesses that possess SSNs to implement appropriate
safeguards and limit unnecessary employee access to SSNs.
</ul><br>
Senator Thomas Morahan said, “An individual's Social Security number is
the key to enormous access to their personal and financial information
and this new law will put in place new limits and protections to ensure
that number does not fall into the wrong hands.” <br><br>
Assemblywoman Audrey Pheffer said, “The Assembly, and in particular the
Consumer Protections Committee, has made enacting meaningful identity
theft measures a top consumer priority. As part of our ongoing efforts,
the committee last year held hearings on regulating the use of Social
Security numbers by private businesses and state agencies. This review
was instrumental in crafting this new law in order to protect residents
from unauthorized use of personal information and identity theft.”
<br><br>
<b>Strengthened Laws for Computer Crimes</b> <br><br>
As consumers become more heavily reliant on computers to accomplish
everyday tasks such as paying bills, and online-shopping, it is important
to ensure that laws are in place to protect these consumers from
computer-based fraud. A new measure, sponsored by Assemblyman Richard
Brodsky and Senator James Wright (A.891F/S.5005F), keeps up with
continually evolving computer technology by further defining and
clarifying New York State’s Penal Law as it pertains to the unauthorized
use of computers. This measure strengthens existing law to allow for the
prosecution of those who intentionally disrupt, steal personal
information, and plant malicious programs on consumer’s computers without
authorization.<br><br>
Senator James Wright said, “Computer technology is constantly evolving,
making everyday tasks more convenient, but the changes in technology also
place us at risk for identity theft and fraud. This law makes it easier
to prosecute those who intentionally commit these crimes and to protect
consumers.” <br><br>
Assemblyman Richard Brodsky said, “This law – the first anti-spyware law
in New York – is a way to prosecute those who dump thousands of malicious
spyware, adware and other viruses onto people’s computers. Thieves no
longer have to break into one’s home to steal vital information; they can
do it remotely with the same devastating results. We have an obligation
to do everything we can to stop thieves from invading people’s computers
and prosecuting those who do.” <br><br>
<b>Existing Identity Theft Protection</b> <br><br>
These new identity theft laws build upon existing laws that are designed
to safeguard consumers from identity theft schemes. Earlier this year,
the Governor signed into a law, a comprehensive set of measures allowing
consumers to proactively defend themselves against identity thieves,
require businesses to properly discard documents and records containing
personal information, and prohibit individuals from deceptively
soliciting sensitive information from Internet users. <br><br>
The Security Freeze Law allows consumers, who are either identity theft
victims or are concerned that they might be at risk of having their
identities stolen, to cut off an identity thief's access to credit,
loans, leases, goods and services by placing a “freeze” on their consumer
credit report. <br><br>
The Disposal of Personal Records Law requires any business to properly
dispose of records containing personal information through one of the
following means: shredding, destruction, modification, or other
reasonable action to ensure that no unauthorized person will have access
to the personal information. This law will ensure that disposed records
containing personal information are not a source that thieves rely upon
to commit identity theft. <br><br>
The Anti-Phishing Act of 2006 prohibits the deceptive solicitation of
personal information through electronic communications. Phishing is the
act of sending an e-mail to an Internet user, falsely claiming to be an
established legitimate enterprise in an attempt to scam the user into
surrendering private information that will be used for identity theft.
The scammer lures the potential victim out of a sea of internet users for
passwords and financial data. “Phishing” accounts for nearly 25% of all
Internet fraud. <br>
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