ID theft protections jeopardized

By CAROLYN MALONEY
SPECIAL TO THE VINDICATOR
Imagine for a minute a world in which you go to a locksmith to have locks put on your doors at home. To your surprise, the locksmith tells you that federal law doesn't allow you to get locks until after a burglar has actually broken into your home and stolen your belongings. Chances are you would be bewildered - and more than a little bit upset.
Unfortunately, this type of counterintuitive thinking isn't confined to a bizarre alternative universe -- it could become a reality. A data security bill on its way to the floor of the House of Representatives for a vote, as currently constituted, contains language that would allow consumers to control access to their credit reports only after they discover an identity thief has established a false account in their name.
In this age of electronic banking and Internet transactions, it is easier than ever to have your personal data stolen. Twenty six million of our nation's veterans recently were made vulnerable to the dangers of identity theft when a single government laptop went missing for almost two months, and each week we read of a new loss of personal data that threatens thousands more Americans. By now, many victims have found out the hard way that once a criminal sets up false accounts in your name, it is very difficult to clear your credit, and you may be unable to buy a car, or a house, or get a credit card, for years.
Giving consumers the ability to "freeze" their credit reports equips them with an invaluable tool to keep identity prowlers away from their information - like putting locks on your doors. Twenty states, including my home state of New York, already have laws that give their residents full control over access to their credit reports. It has been reported that the Ohio legislature is considering enacting a file freeze law, and other states are moving in that direction. But with H.R. 3997, a bill due on the House floor shortly, Congress might roll back those state laws and prevent states like Ohio from enacting the same protections.
LaTourette is sponsor
(The prime sponsor of H.R. 3997 (U.S. Rep. Steve LaTourette of Ohio, R-19th) was quoted in the July 16 Cleveland Plain Dealer saying, & quot;I didn't get it right on the freeze, & quot; and suggesting that he might alter his bill. However, he also claimed that he will continue to insist on federal pre-emption of state law, meaning that in the likely event that states enact better or stronger credit freeze laws, those would be null and void.)
Instead of taking away identity protection tools, as Congress is poised to do, we should make file freeze a federal right for everyone, which I have proposed in my bill, H.R. 5482.
File freeze is the most effective tool to combat identity theft. It works because it actually stops the granting of new credit without the consumer's express permission. In contrast, a fraud alert, the solution advocated by the industry, only conditions the granting of credit and can easily be evaded by a thief who has the victim's Social Security number and birthdate.
Granting nationwide, unconditional file freeze would not affect the use of credit cards or existing credit lines. It only prevents issuance of new credit unless the individual requests the credit report be sent to the lender. This gives individuals control over their credit report and allows them to protect themselves. My bill provides convenient, low-cost file freeze as a basic federal threshold on which states could potentially improve as technology advances.
Experience at the state level shows that file freeze does not halt commerce. Home and car buyers in California and other states with file freeze have shown that loans are still easy to obtain with that protection. And just as secure payments systems like PayPal sprang up when eBay burst on the scene, entrepreneurs will develop secure, low-cost systems of freezing and unfreezing if file freeze becomes a national phenomenon.
Now is the time for consumers to make clear to their elected officials that they want protection from identity thieves. Otherwise many Americans -- including Ohioans -- will wake up one day wondering what happened to the deadbolt they had on their personal information.
The writer is the Democratic representative of New York's 14th Congressional District.