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Lawmakers Target Identity Theft In New Bill

WASHINGTON (Mon., Jan. 27) – Senators Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), Judd Gregg (R-N.H.) and Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) announced legislation Monday at a Capitol Hill news conference that would reduce identity theft by protecting Americans’ Social Security numbers.

The Social Security Number Misuse Prevention Act would bar the sale and display of Social Security numbers and restrict the use of those numbers by both government agencies and private businesses. Specifically, it would:

• Prohibit the sale and display of a Social Security number without the expressed consent of the individual, while permitting legitimate business-to-business and business-to-government uses of Social Security numbers.
  
   
• Prohibit the government from displaying Social Security numbers on public records posted on the Internet or issued to the public through electronic media. 
  
  
• Limit, for the first time, when businesses may require customers to provide their Social Security numbers. 
  
  
• Authorize the Social Security Administration to issue penalties of up to $5,000 for people who misuse a Social Security number. 
  
  
• Create a five-year maximum prison sentence for anyone who obtains another person’s Social Security number for the purpose of physically injuring, harming or illegally using the identity of that person. 

“Criminals can steal someone’s identity, money and reputation with a simple keystroke,” said Leahy, the ranking Democrat on the Judiciary Committee which has jurisdiction over the bill. “Armed with a name, address and Social Security number a wrongdoer can apply for and receive a credit card and repeatedly steal from any person. Americans should not have to worry that their very identities are at risk of being stolen, and this bill will help achieve that important goal.”

The senators plan to introduce the bill this week. Leahy, as chairman last year of the Judiciary Committee, expedited the panel’s hearing on and approval of the bill. The bill went to the Senate floor, but the bill was not enacted by the end of the legislative session.