[Dataloss] A data security breach legislation question

[Beth Givens]

Security freezes are even more effective than fraud alerts in 
preventing identity theft in situations where the breached data ends 
up in the hands of fraudsters. If your credit reports are "frozen," 
creditors cannot obtain access to them at all.

The fraudster who is attempting to open an instant credit account at, 
say, the local Circuit City store so he or she can buy goods with a 
high street value on the black market will be turned away. The sales 
clerk at Circuit City will not be able to access the victim's credit 
report to make that all-important credit check.

But there is a fee to sign up for security freezes with each of the 3 
credit bureaus. If an individual wants the ultimate protection, AND 
they do not plan to be in the market for any credit-related products 
in the near future including renting an apartment, it makes sense to 
go with the freeze. FYI, freezes are usually free to bona fide ID 
theft victims.

Freezes are a good idea for senior citizens who own their homes 
outright and who have all the credit they need. They then have the 
peace of mind that they don't need to worry about new-account fraud, 
which is the more pernicious form of identity fraud (versus 
existing-account fraud) and the most difficult and time-consuming to 
recover from.

By the way, the freeze laws were implemented because creditors were 
not always checking for fraud alerts. Many simply ignored them and 
did not make those phone calls to individuals who had established the 
fraud alerts. We here at the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse have talked 
with numerous victims of identity theft over the years who have told 
us that creditors paid no attention to their fraud alerts and went 
ahead and issued credit to the identity thief nonetheless.

I would like to see security freeze laws amended to require *free* 
freezes for individuals affected by data breaches, especially for 
breaches in which Social Security numbers have been compromised. SSNs 
are the key to new-account fraud.

Here's a good link for freeze information from Consumers Union:
http://www.consumersunion.org/campaigns/learn_more/003484indiv.html

Beth Givens
Director, Privacy Rights Clearinghouse


The information, advice, and suggestions contained in this email
should be used as an information source and not as legal advice.

Beth Givens, Director
Privacy Rights Clearinghouse
3100 - 5th Ave., Suite B
San Diego, CA 92103
Voice:  619-298-3396
Fax:  619-298-5681
bgivens at privacyrights.org
http://www.privacyrights.org
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