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ALBANY---The New York State Senate has passed a package of legislation to protect people from identity theft that would give consumers a proactive way to prevent identity theft, protect against cyber piracy, and increase penalties for those who commit identity theft. The package is highlighted by legislation that would allow consumers to place a security freeze on their credit, preventing identity thieves from causing greater damage to a victims' credit. The Senate gave final passage to this bill Wednesday.
Action on the legislation was announced at a Capitol news conference where Senate Majority Leader Joseph L. Bruno and Senator Charles Fuschillo, Chairman of the Consumer Protection Committee, were joined by Denise Curro, a 25 year old woman from North Bellmore, Long Island who was a victim of identity theft eight years ago when her wallet was stolen in North Carolina. Her credit rating was destroyed and eight years later, she is still dealing with the ramifications of having her identity stolen.
The Senate gave final legislative passage to legislation (S.6805-B), sponsored by Sen. Charles Fuschillo, that would allow consumers to place a security freeze on their credit, blocking all access to consumer credit reports and preventing identity thieves from taking out new loans and credit in the name of a victim. Consumers who place a security freeze would be provided a unique PIN or password that must be given to a credit reporting agency each time the consumer wants to allow access to their credit information, effectively cutting off a thief's ability to get credit, loans, and leases in the consumer's name.
The bill will be sent to the Governor for his consideration.
The Senate passed legislation today, also sponsored by Sen.Fuschillo that would:
--thwart telemarketers from deceptively gaining people's phone numbers by establishing prohibitions on the sale of telephone record information and authorizing the attorney general to bring action against devious commercial interests that violate the prohibitions (S.6723);
--establish the "anti-phishing act of 2006," that would provide the attorney general, private industry, and non-profit organizations the ability to pursue civil action against those who defraud New York residents by using email scams to steal private information (S.5370-C).
The Senate passed legislation (S.2899), sponsored by Senator Nick Spano (R-C, Westchester), that would expand and clarify the crimes of identity theft, as well as strengthen penalties. The bill would:
-- increase the penalty for identity theft in the first degree from a Class D to a C felony;
--expand the period between prior convictions of identity theft from 5 to 10 years;-- expand the list of unlawfully possessed personal identification information for identity theft in the second degree; and
--decrease the number of such items possessed from 250 pieces to a more reasonable 10 pieces.
"Identity theft has risen significantly with the increase in technology, and the dependence on identification numbers such as social security numbers," said Senator Spano. "My legislation will clarify the crimes of identity theft as well as strengthen the penalties, enabling prosecutors to better protect victims of this growing crime."
The Senate also passed legislation (S.6873), sponsored by Sen. John DeFrancisco (R-C-I-WF), that would increase the penalty for the crimes of identity theft and unlawful possession of personal identification information when the victim is a member of the armed forces, and the perpetrator knows that the victim is a member of the armed forces.
The Senate passed legislation (S.6333-A, Sen. Morahan) to establish the crime of unlawful possession of an identity scanning device. Identity scanning devices can be used to get a wide range of information about a person that can be financially devastating. This legislation will ensure that only persons with legitimate reasons are in possession of identity scanning devices, helping to reduce the occurrences of identity theft in New York.
The Senate passed legislation (S.2306), sponsored by Sen. Betty Little (R-C-I, Queensbury), that would establish protection against cyber piracy and the unlawful registration of domain names.
"Developing an effective web presence depends a great deal on having an easily recognizable domain name," said Senator Betty Little. "Cyber pirates exploit this by registering domain names and then demanding a ransom from people they know will want them. This legislation imposes a civil fine and, perhaps more importantly, empowers the Public Service Commission to seek an injunctive relief so unsuspecting Internet users are not misdirected to inappropriate or deceptive web sites."
The bills were sent to the Assembly.
The Senate is expected to act next week on legislation that would:
--mandate the proper disposal or destruction of records containing private information in order to help address the growing problem of identity theft (S.5178, Senator Fuschillo).
--clarify what acts constitute the offense of identity theft (S.7211, Sen. Balboni).
"An unfortunate bi-product of the constant advances in technology is that criminals can utilize those new technologies to commit fraud or steal another person's identity," said Senator Balboni (R-C, East Williston). "This bill would broaden the crime of identity theft to include the sale and distribution of a person's unique physical attributes, including their signature, fingerprints, and iris image in order to better protect New Yorkers."
The Senate will also act next week on legislation (S.6909), sponsored by Sen. Morahan, that would place limits on the use and disclosure of an individual's social security account number (SSN).
Specifically, the bill would:
--prohibit the intentional communication of an individual's SSN to the general public;
--restrict businesses' ability to print an individual's SSN on mailings or on any card or tag required to access products, services or benefits;
--prohibit businesses from requiring an individual to transmit his or her unencrypted SSN over the Internet; and
--require businesses who possess SSNs to implement appropriate safeguards and limit unnecessary employee access to SSNs.
5-18-06
© 2006 North
Country Gazette
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