Overview
Since the beginning of 2005,
the personal data of millions of Americans has been exposed due to security
breaches at businesses and government agencies an estimated 90 million times.
In Massachusetts, high profile security breaches at the Boston Globe and
Worcester Telegram, Fidelity Investments, the Department of Veterans Affairs
and now TJX and Stop and Shop have affected hundreds of thousands of
Massachusetts residents, exposing their information an estimated 1.8 million
times.
Your personal information is
a valuable commodity. Your Social Security Number, your credit report and other
personal information may be bought, sold or traded among banks, credit card
companies and department stores, without your knowledge or permission. And the
worst form of identity theft occurs when an imposter uses your personal
information to open lines of credit under your name, leaving you with the bill
and ruining your credit rating.
Massachusetts has joined
other states across the country in passing laws to address the growing crime of
identity theft. Key provisions of the law focus on 'security breach'
notifications that require businesses to contact consumers if their information
is lost or stolen, and credit report 'security freeze' laws that give consumers
the ability to block access to their own credit report so identity thieves
cannot open new credit accounts in a victim's name.
Passing the Identity Theft Prevention Law was a top
priority for MASSPIRG.
