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Search Terms: personal information privacy

Document 6 of 26.

July 2, 2000, Sunday

SECTION: OPINION;Pg. G-3

LENGTH: 851 words

HEADLINE: Better protection from identity theft

BYLINE: Dianne Feinstein; Feinstein is United States senator from California.

BODY:
Every 60 seconds, an unsuspecting American becomes the victim of identity theft. In cases of identity theft, personal information from a victim -- in most cases a Social Security number -- is used to obtain credit and buy goods and services in the victim's name, running up huge bills.

Identity thieves have also been known to use the information to track down and stalk their victims, or even worse, sexually assault and kill them. This criminal practice is growing larger everyday and demands action by Congress. Here are just a few examples of the problem:

[] Amy Boyer, a 20-year old dental assistant from Maine, was killed last year by a stalker who bought her Social Security number off the Internet for $45, and then used it to locate her work address. [] Michelle Brown of Hermosa Beach had her Social Security number stolen last year and it was used to charge $50,000, including a $32,000 truck, a $5,000 liposuction operation, and a year-long residential lease. While assuming Michelle's name, the perpetrator also became the object of an arrest warrant for drug smuggling in Texas.

[] Lyn Klinenberg, of Los Angeles, was confronted in the weeks following the death of her husband -- a prominent executive at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center -- by efforts to charge $200,000 in diamond purchases against bank and charge accounts she shared with her husband's accounts. This included a $160,000 wire transfer, which she was fortunately able to head off when the bank called her about the request. (What she learned was that the families of recently deceased executives are becoming prime targets of identity thieves, who cull personal information from obituaries and other public documents.)

[] Kim Bradbury, a resident of Castro Valley, discovered that an identity thief obtained a credit card in her name though the Internet in just 10 seconds. The false application only had her Social Security number and birth date correct.

In fact, identity theft is one of the fastest growing crimes in the new economy, where cutting-edge technology has magnified public access to what has been traditionally thought of as personal information. The Privacy Rights Clearinghouse estimates there will be between 500,000 to 700,000 victims of identity theft this year. And in 1999, the Social Security Administration reported it had received more than 30,000 complaints regarding misuse of Social Security numbers, most of which had to do with identity theft. This figure has more than tripled from 11,000 complaints in 1998 and just 7,868 in 1997.

In total, Treasury Department officials estimate that identity theft causes between up to $3 billion in losses each year -- just from credit cards alone. To help battle this problem, I have introduced two measures designed to curb the inappropriate trafficking of personal data:

[] The Social Security Number Protection Act.

This bill has the support of the Clinton administration, including Vice President Al Gore. It will stop the sale and purchase of Social Security numbers for profit and would prevent an anonymous third party from logging onto a Web site and buying a person's Social Security number.

Today, the federal government uses the Social Security number as a taxpayer identification number, the Medicare number, and as a soldier's serial number. Many states use the Social Security number as the identification number on drivers licenses, fishing licenses, and other official records. Banks use it to establish personal identification for credit.

Restricting access to Social Security numbers makes sense because a criminal who fraudulently obtains this de facto national identification number has the key unlocking a person's identity.

[] The Identity Theft Protection Act.

This legislation, endorsed by the Federal Trade Commission, gives consumers better tools to protect themselves from identity theft by giving everyone free annual credit reports, restricting the sale of personal information in credit reports, and requiring credit card issuers to advise consumers of change of address requests on their accounts.

While we pursue tougher laws in Congress to combat identity theft, there are several ways in which people can protect themselves:

[] Refrain from giving personal information over the phone, through the mail, or the Internet unless you initiated the contact or know who you are dealing with.

[] Keep items with personal information in a safe place, tear or shred charge receipts, copies of credit applications, bank checks and statements that are being discarded in the trash.

[] Order copies of your credit report each year and review them for errors (Equifax, 800-685-1111; Experion, 888-397-3742; and Transunion, 800-916-8800).

[] Find out who has access to your personal information at work and verify that the records are secure.

The bottom line is that no matter how fast our technology grows and changes, all Americans have a fundamental right to privacy. But we must take the strong steps necessary to ensure that it stays that way.

GRAPHIC: 1 DRAWING; Tim Brinton

LOAD-DATE: July 5, 2000

Document 6 of 26.


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