The Senate State, Veterans,
and Military Affairs committee passes a measure, HB04-1311 sponsored by Rep.
Frangas and Sen. Jones to help prevent identity theft from occurring.
Identity theft is the top
consumer crime in Colorado. Colorado is one of two states that do not have strong
laws on the books to prosecute criminals for identity theft. Last year, the
state ranked eighth in the nation for the number of identity-theft victims per
capita, according to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). Complex identity theft
crimes occur when thieves steal Social Security Numbers or other personal data
and use the information to take funds by opening credit card accounts, renting
homes or obtaining loans.
Victims of identity theft
literally have their lives stolen. They face credit and mortgage denials, out-of-pocket
costs, and even arrest when mistaken for the thief using their name. The Federal
Trade Commission (FTC) estimates that it took the average victim of identity
theft in 2003 600 hours and an average of $1,400 to clear their name; cases
average two to four years to be resolved. This is up from 175 hours and $808
in out-of-pocket expenses in 2000. The FTC estimates that identity theft cost
consumers $5 billion and businesses $48 billion last year. And when a business,
institution or other entity is sloppy with consumers' personal information,
it's the victim that is responsible for cleaning up the mess. Colorado legislators
are looking at bills this year to get tough on thieves. Now it's time to prevent
the crimes by safeguarding personal information.
Often, all a thief needs
is a social security number to open an account fraudulently, and rack up charges
in an innocent victim's name. Social security numbers were originally only meant
for the federal government's use to track wages and benefits. But now, these
numbers are used by a multitude of public and private institutions-such as health
insurance companies, universities, cell phone companies, utility companies and
others-as identification numbers, or as a security measure to confirm an individual's
identity. The widespread use of these numbers completely undermines the use
of it as a security measure. Widespread use also provides numerous opportunities
for identity thieves to gain access to valuable information.
CoPIRG calls on the legislature
to pass measures that would prohibit using SSNs as personal identification numbers,
and prohibit the public posting or display of such numbers on licenses, passes,
or certificates. We also urge the businesses and other institutions to voluntarily
phase out any unnecessary collection of SSNs altogether, and instead use a unique,
random number to track clients. If they must collect SSNs due to government
mandates, CoPIRG urges the groups to take better measures to safeguard this
data. We also urge government agencies to reconsider any mandates they have
to collect this information, unless such activity is required for reporting
to the Social Security Administration.
Many victims of identity
theft do not discover the fraud for years after it first occurs, exacerbating
the problem even further. The longer it takes for the victim to discover the
fraud, the longer the thief continues to rack up charges in another person's
name. CoPIRG urges a Yes vote on HB-1311.
