Bill seeks to combat identity theft
Technology Exists To Freeze Credit Reports, Protect Consumers
Last updated Thursday, December 28, 2006 10:05 PM CST in News
By John Lyon
The Morning News
LITTLE ROCK -- In an effort to combat identity theft, Arkansans would be allowed to block access to their consumer credit reports under a bill filed for the 2007 legislative session.
The bill by state Rep. Dawn Creekmore, D-Hensley, would require credit reporting agencies to "freeze" a person's consumer credit report, blocking anyone from accessing it, at the consumer's request.
Creekmore said Thursday that House Bill 1038, filed Wednesday, was based on similar laws enacted in 25 states.
Also Thursday, Rep. John Paul Wells, D-West Helena, pre-filed House Bill 1039, which would limit physical education requirements in public schools.
The bill would prohibit schools from being required to provide more than one hour a week of physical education for students in grades kindergarten through 8 and would prohibit schools from being required to provide students in grades 9 through 12 with physical education in excess of the minimum amount required to graduate from high school.
Attorney General-elect Dustin McDaniel has said a security freeze act is likely to be a part of the legislative package he will present in the upcoming session. His designated chief of staff, Melissa Moody, said Thursday that McDaniel had not seen Creekmore's bill.
Her bill would allow a consumer to have a security freeze on his or her report temporarily suspended so a specific company or person could access the report. The reporting agency would be required to provide a password or identification number that could be used to authorize the release of information.
If the person requesting a freeze has been the victim of identity theft, the reporting agency could not charge a fee for the service under Creekmore's bill. A person who has not been the victim of identity theft could request a freeze, but the reporting agency could charge up to $10 for each freeze or lifting of a freeze and up to $12 for each temporary suspension of a freeze.
A security freeze protects consumers, she said, by making it impossible for identity thieves to set up accounts with stolen information, Creekmore said.
She gave the example of a person who steals personal information, then tries to set up a Visa account after a security freeze has been imposed.
"When that Visa company sees that you have implemented a security freeze, then they will contact you (and say) that, 'Hey, someone's trying to get a Visa credit card in your name. You need to temporarily remove this security freeze so we can issue you this Visa.' And you say, 'No, that's not me,'" she said.
"I think (the bill is) outstanding," said Jason Nuttle of Rogers, whose personal financial information was stolen three times from three different companies this year.
So far, no one has tried to set up any accounts in Nuttle's name, but he is not taking any chances. He is having his credit report monitored for any activity that might originate from an identity thief.
Nuttle said a security freeze would be more effective and would be less of a hassle and expense for the consumer. He said he hopes the bill will pass, although he expects it to face some opposition.
"The problem with this bill that I see is that there are a lot of very big corporations that don't want credit freeze bills to go through. Any kind of company that issues credit, that's their business. They want to encourage as much credit as possible," he said.
Creekmore said with the technology available today, credit reporting agencies should be able to set up their systems so freezes can be imposed and lifted quickly and with little or no expense, other than the expense to the companies to initiate the changes.
Phone calls to the three major credit reporting agencies, Equifax, Experian and TransUnion, were not immediately returned Thursday.
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Joe wrote on Dec 29, 2006 12:48 PM: