Identity Theft and Laws that Benefit the Customer essays

Identity Theft and Laws that Benefit the Customer essays California's new law requires banks, government agencies, e-commerce firms and others to notify customers if thieves target their computer systems (Block, 2003). "The goal is to give consumers information they need to protect themselves," says Palo Alto Assembly Member Joe Simitian, co- Many of California's identity theft laws benefit the customer, For instance, credit bureaus must enable consumer to establish a "freeze," prohibiting the credit bureau from giving report to anyone without the consumer's consent (Privacy Rights, 2003). An identity theft victim who provides the credit bureau with a copy of a police report is entitled to 12 free credit reports, one per month, in the 12 months from the date of the police report. Normally, customers would have to pay for this service. In addition, California law requires banks and other savings companies to cooperate with identity theft victims. These companies must provide on request of law enforcement or of an ID theft victim copies of applications, checks, account statements, and records of transactions initiated by an There are also laws that protect the security of personal information, including social security numbers and driver's license numbers (Privacy Rights, 2003). In addition, a sworn statement is required for issuance of certified copies of birth or death records. Many times consumers complain that this information is hard to change or replace; however, in the long run, they benefit from strict identity theft laws. In 2003, the state of California passed an identity theft law, SB 1386, several cases of identity theft were perpetrated by individuals who had stolen confidential client data from SANS Security Essentials (Bass, 2003). This breach in security came at a time when California legislators had already enacted a variety anti-identity-theft laws. SB 1386 responded to the increasing problem of identity theft in California,...