Washington, D.C. -- (March 21, 2007) -- The Federal Trade
Commission (www.ftc.gov)
today told the Senate Judiciary Committee Subcommittee
on Terrorism, Technology, and Homeland Security that “the
government and the private sector must continue to work
together to reduce the opportunities for thieves to obtain
consumers’ personal information and make it more
difficult for thieves to misuse that information if they
obtain it.” Lydia Parnes, Director of the FTC’s
Bureau of Consumer Protection, said government and the
business community should evaluate whether they need to
collect and maintain the data they have about consumers,
better-protect the data that they do possess, and develop
better ways to authenticate customers to keep identity
thieves from using the information they steal.
According to the testimony, “A recent Wall Street
Journal/Harris Interactive survey, for example, found
that, as a result of fears about protecting their identities,
30 percent of consumers polled were limiting their online
purchases, and 24 percent were cutting back on their online
banking.”
The testimony notes that “since 2001, the Commission
has brought fourteen cases challenging businesses that
failed to reasonably protect sensitive consumer information
that they maintained. . . . Together, the cases stand
for the proposition that companies should maintain reasonable
and appropriate measures to protect sensitive consumer
information.”
The testimony notes that the FTC has participated in
an Identity Theft Task Force established by the President
to develop a comprehensive national strategy to combat
identity theft. FTC Chairman Deborah Platt Majoras serves
as the Task Force’s co-chair. A set of interim recommendations
in the areas of prevention, victim assistance, and law
enforcement “have been implemented or are in the
process of being implemented.” In addition, the
Task Force is reviewing approximately 150 comments and
recommendations received from consumer advocacy groups,
trade associations and identity theft victims in preparation
of a final strategic plan and recommendations.
“The Commission receives about 15,000 to 20,000
contacts each week on how to recover from identity theft
or how to avoid becoming a victim in the first place,”
the testimony states. “The Commission has undertaken
substantial efforts to increase consumer and business
awareness of the importance of protecting data and taking
other steps to prevent identity theft.” An identity
theft “primer” developed by the agency is
available in print and at FTC.gov. The agency has distributed
more than two million copies and there have been more
than 2.4 million visits to the Web version. In addition,
the agency has developed a consumer education piece, “Avoid
ID Theft: Deter, Detect, Defend,” and a training
kit that can be used by businesses, community groups and
others to educate consumers about identity theft. “The
Commission has distributed over 1.5 million brochures
and 40,000 kits to date,” it states.
The testimony notes that misuse of consumers’ social
security numbers can facilitate identity theft. “The
challenge is to find the proper balance between the necessity
of keeping SSNs out of the hands of identity thieves,
while giving businesses and government sufficient means
to match information to the correct person.”
“Preventing the misuse of SSNs, therefore, can
follow two paths,” the testimony states. “First,
the unnecessary use and disclosure of SSNs as an identifier
can be reduced. The Identity Theft Task Force is working
toward this goal.”
“Second, to prevent misuse of SSNs, improved methods
of authenticating consumers can be promoted so that, even
if the SSN falls into the hands of an identity thief,
that SSN is less valuable.” The FTC will host an
authentication workshop on April 23 and 24, 2007.
“The Commission will continue and strengthen its
law enforcement efforts, as well as its education and
outreach to guide and empower businesses and consumers
to fight back against identity theft,” the testimony
states.
The Commission vote to approve the testimony was 5-0.
Copies of the testimony are available from the FTC’s
Web site at http://www.ftc.gov and also from the FTC’s
Consumer Response Center, Room 130, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue,
N.W., Washington, D.C. 20580. The FTC works for the consumer
to prevent fraudulent, deceptive, and unfair business
practices in the marketplace and to provide information
to help consumers spot, stop, and avoid them. To file
a complaint in English or Spanish or to get free information
on any of 150 consumer topics, call toll-free, 1-877-FTC-HELP
(1-877-382-4357), or use the complaint form at http://www.ftc.gov/ftc/complaint.htm.
The FTC enters Internet, telemarketing, identity theft,
and other fraud-related complaints into Consumer Sentinel,
a secure, online database available to more than 1,600
civil and criminal law enforcement agencies in the U.S.
and abroad.
SOURCE: Federal Trade Commission
