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Pryor urges identity theft protection Friday, Sep 23, 2005 By Alison Vekshin Stephens Washington Bureau WASHINGTON -- Sen. Mark Pryor, D-Ark., on Thursday urged a Senate panel to allow consumers to place a security freeze on their credit reports to guard against identity theft. Pryor, a former Arkansas attorney general, said identity theft constitutes the fastest-growing financial crime in the country. "The issue that struck me is that we are not providing consumers the tools to protect themselves," Pryor told the Senate Banking Committee, which held a hearing examining the issue. "And we should give consumers a broad array of positive actions they can take to protect their information," he said. In Arkansas, nearly 1,400 cases of identity theft were reported last year, Pryor noted. Citing the Identity Theft Resource Center, Pryor said identity theft victims spend about $1,500 and 600 hours restoring their credit histories. The crime costs businesses an estimated $48 billion annually, he said. Identity thieves use personal information such a Social Security number, address and date of birth to open an account in another person's name. With this information, they can lease an apartment, sign up for a cell phone, open a credit card account or get a mortgage loan. In June, Pryor introduced a bill that would allow consumers to place a security freeze on their credit files and scores, giving them the power to authorize the release of their credit information. A consumer would have to request the hold from one credit agency and that agency would inform the other credit bureaus. The legislation, modeled after a California law, requires credit agencies to implement the freeze within two business days after the request and inform consumers of anyone seeking information about their credit files. The bill has been referred to the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee. Use of file freezes appears to be limited in California, with about 9,000 consumers putting it to use out of a population of more than 25 million, said Stuart Pratt, president of the Consumer Data Industry Association, which represents about 250 consumer information companies. "The consumer reporting industry has often been quoted as expressing concerns about the rigidity of freezes, which operate in stark contrast to fraud alerts where transactions can continue under a 'caution flag,'" he said. -- 30 -- |
