Boston,
MA—The Senate
approved a conference committee report and enacted the Identity Theft
Prevention Bill today, sending the long awaited legislation to Governor Patrick
for his signature. The new law will give consumers in Massachusetts more protections against the
crime of identity theft, according to consumer advocacy groups.
“This is a very comprehensive bill that
addresses the problem of identity theft on several fronts,” said MASSPIRG
Consumer Advocate Eric Bourassa. “It will set standards for how consumer
information is protected and disposed of. It will require entities that store
this type of data to notify affected individuals when it is lost or stolen. And
it allows consumers to proactively prevent identity thieves from opening credit
in their name by blocking access to their credit reports.”
Since 2005 we have seen
hundreds of security breaches that have released personal information on
millions of Americans. Breaches affecting Massachusetts residents include the TJX
Company, the Veterans Affairs Administration, Fidelity Investments, Bank of
America, and the Boston Globe. These security breaches leave people at a
heightened risk of identity theft.
According to
the Federal Trade Commission identity theft is the fastest growing crime in the
nation, affecting approximately 10 million Americans annually, and costing
consumers and businesses $52 billion a year.
This is also a
huge problem for law enforcement, costing time and money to investigate what
should be a more preventable crime.
Some of the
worst type of financial identity theft happens when thieves gain access to a
person’s name and social security number, and use that data to open new credit
accounts and wrack up debt in their name.
Consumer
Protections The Identity Theft Prevention Law Will Address
Safeguards of Consumer Personal
Information.
The Office of Consumer Affairs and Businesses Regulation, and the Division of
Public Records will set standards for how businesses and government agencies
must protect consumers’ information to avoid a security breach.
Breach Notification. Requires
commercial entities and government agencies to notify affected consumers if
enough of their personal information to commit identity theft has been lost or
stolen, and to do this in a timely manner.
Credit Report Security Freeze. Enables
consumers to “lock” their credit report, preventing would be identity thieves
from taking out credit in their name, and caps the fees to place, lift and
remove the freeze at $5. There is no fee for victims of identity theft.
Disposal
Requirements. Mandates
that documents containing enough personal information about a consumer that
could be used to commit identity theft, be properly disposed of so that the
information cannot be practicably read.
Consumer
Access to Their Own Police Report. Allows a victim of identity theft to get a
copy of their police report from any law enforcement office, even if the crime
did not occur in that jurisdiction. Victims need a copy of their police report
to clean up the financial mess resulting from identity theft and to qualify for
the free security freeze.
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