Clay plans to introduce legislation to combat ID theft

A House Oversight and Government Reform subcommittee on Wednesday waded into the debate over whether stronger laws are needed to help address identity theft and protect victims.

House Oversight and Government Reform Information Policy Subcommittee Chairman William Lacy Clay, D-Mo., plans to introduce legislation that he believes would enhance data security and privacy statutes even though the issue is typically covered by the Judiciary, Commerce, Financial Services and other committees.

"Identity theft prevention and assistance efforts are lagging far behind the needs of the victims," Clay said, noting that those who experience theft run into an array of roadblocks when trying to restore their identity.

Thieves are quick to overcome obstacles set in place by legislation, he said. Earlier this month, a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee approved legislation that would require companies to provide adequate security and notify consumers of data breaches that could lead to ID theft.

The most recent law, which resulted from 2008 legislation, eliminated a requirement that prosecutors show an incident caused at least $5,000 in damages and lets them bring felony charges in federal courts against multiple offenders in a single state. Additionally, the U.S. Sentencing Commission is directed to consider upping penalties for those convicted of ID theft, computer fraud, illegal wiretapping or computer hacking.

FTC Privacy and Identity Protection Division Assistant Director Betsy Broder said agencies that deal with ID theft "have come a long way," but her commission could have greater impact if it could assess civil penalties in data security cases. She said unified data security and a nationwide breach notification law would help.

The FTC backs legislation to reduce unnecessary use and display of Social Security numbers like a proposal called for by GAO Education, Workforce, and Income Security Director Daniel Bertoni that would have Congress establish a national truncation standard.

The Justice Department wants legislation that would improve law enforcement's ability to cooperate with international counterparts and strengthen penalties for stealing identities and related crimes, Deputy Assistant Attorney General Jason Weinstein said at the hearing. Furthermore, recent guideline changes proposed by the Sentencing Commission are minor and do not adequately take into account the scope of the problem, he said.

A second panel of privacy experts warned the ID theft crisis is growing. Electronic Privacy Information Center Executive Director Marc Rotenberg urged lawmakers to boost security of agency databases that contain personal data, especially as the government introduces more Web 2.0 services.

EPIC has asked the Homeland Security Department and White House to end commercialization of data held by agencies and apply the Privacy Act to all government collected data.