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ALBANY---Three new measures have been signed into law in New York State by Gov. George Pataki that will further protect New York's consumers and their privacy. These bills establish the Consumer Communication Records Privacy Act, place limits on the use and disclosure of Social Security account numbers, and further clarify and define what is considered a computer crime.
"These important new laws are yet another step towards ensuring that New York consumers do not fall victim to identity theft," Pataki said. "As criminals continue to come up with new schemes to steal consumer's personal information, we must enact stronger laws that ensure the safety and privacy of our consumers and protect them from identity theft. These three laws address the needs of our consumers and their families, while continuing to demonstrate that New York remains a leader in the fight against identity theft."
The Consumer Communication Records Privacy Act, sponsored by Sen. Charles Fuschillo and Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz (S.6723/A.12033), protects consumers by prohibiting the sale, fraudulent transfer, or solicitation of a consumers telephone records without consent from the consumer. This information is confidential and protected by both telephone companies and telephone consumers, and unauthorized release of telephone records harms consumers by taking away their sense of privacy, safety and security.
Fuschillo, chairman of the Senate's Consumer Protection Committee, said, "The fact that someone could so easily invade the privacy of another by obtaining their phone records was so offensive that we needed to act. This new law will prevent the distribution of one's calls without their consent."
To guard against the potential misuse of Social Security account numbers (SSN), Sen. Thomas Morahan and Assemblywoman Audrey Pheffer sponsored a bill (S.6909C/A.10076D) that will enact a new law placing limits on the use and dissemination of this information. Specifically, the new law:
prohibits 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 encrypted SSN over the Internet; and
require businesses that possess SSNs to implement appropriate safeguards and limit unnecessary employee access to SSNs.
As consumers become more heavily reliant on computers to accomplish everyday tasks such as paying bills, and online-shopping, it is important to ensure that laws are in place to protect these consumers from computer-based fraud. A new measure, sponsored by Assemblyman Richard Brodsky and Sen. James Wright (A.891F/S.5005F), keeps up with continually evolving computer technology by further defining and clarifying New York State's Penal Law as it pertains to the unauthorized use of computers. This measure strengthens existing law to allow for the prosecution of those who intentionally disrupt, steal personal information, and plant malicious programs on consumer's computers without authorization.
Assemblyman Richard Brodsky said, "This law - the first anti-spyware law in New York - is a way to prosecute those who dump thousands of malicious spyware, adware and other viruses onto people's computers. Thieves no longer have to break into one's home to steal vital information; they can do it remotely with the same devastating results. We have an obligation to do everything we can to stop thieves from invading people's computers and prosecuting those who do."
These new identity theft laws build upon existing laws that are designed to safeguard consumers from identity theft schemes. Earlier this year, the Governor signed into a law, a comprehensive set of measures allowing consumers to proactively defend themselves against identity thieves, require businesses to properly discard documents and records containing personal information, and prohibit individuals from deceptively soliciting sensitive information from Internet users.
The Security Freeze Law allows consumers, who are either identity theft victims or are concerned that they might be at risk of having their identities stolen, to cut off an identity thief's access to credit, loans, leases, goods and services by placing a "freeze" on their consumer credit report.
The Disposal of Personal Records Law requires any business to properly dispose of records containing personal information through one of the following means: shredding, destruction, modification, or other reasonable action to ensure that no unauthorized person will have access to the personal information. This law will ensure that disposed records containing personal information are not a source that thieves rely upon to commit identity theft.
The Anti-Phishing Act of 2006 prohibits the deceptive solicitation of personal information through electronic communications. Phishing is the act of sending an e-mail to an Internet user, falsely claiming to be an established legitimate enterprise in an attempt to scam the user into surrendering private information that will be used for identity theft. The scammer lures the potential victim out of a sea of internet users for passwords and financial data. "Phishing" accounts for nearly 25% of all Internet fraud. 9-26-06
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© 2006 North
Country Gazette
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