Monday, June 23, 2008
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Agreement reached to strengthen state’s identity theft laws
ALBANY - Governor David Paterson Sunday announced that the Legislature has reached an agreement on a bill that would strengthen New York State’s identity theft laws in a variety of ways, including the enhancement of privacy protection in the work place and programs to aid those who have had their identities stolen.
Identity theft is the most common consumer fraud complaint and the fastest growing financial crime, affecting approximately 10 million Americans each year. In 2007, New York ranked sixth in the country in per capita identity theft complaints, according to Identity Theft Data Clearinghouse of the Federal Trade Commission.
"These kinds of protections are long overdue for the citizens of New York. Increasingly, commerce is done over the internet, making sensitive information more vulnerable to theft than ever before,” said Governor Paterson. “The consequences of identity theft can be devastating and far-reaching. This bill recognizes the new risks facing consumers today and puts a number of critical safeguards in place to help the people of New York State protect their credit and their good names."
The bill will restrict the ability of employers to use an employee's personal information, including prohibitions against posting or displaying more than the last four digits of an employee's social security number or placing social security numbers in files with open access. This will provide important confidentiality safeguards for employees. Additionally, the bill outlaws the possession of "skimmer" devices - which can obtain personal identifying information from credit cards - under circumstances where there is intent to use the device to commit identity theft.