Sam Johnson fights ID theft
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Seeking to protect the privacy of Americans’ Social Security numbers (SSNs) and combat identity theft, U.S. Congressman Sam Johnson (3rd Dist.-Texas), ranking member of the Ways and Means Subcommittee on Social Security, has re-introduced the “Social Security Number Privacy and Identity Theft Prevention Act of 2009,” H.R. 3306.
“Americans are right to worry about the security of their personal information, including their Social Security number, and I don’t blame them. According to the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, data breaches in the public or private sector of personal information in the past 4 ½ years have totaled almost 300 million records,” said Johnson.
The Federal Trade Commission reports that identity theft is the fastest-growing type of fraud in the United States. Private consulting firm Javelin Research and Strategy reports that almost 10 million Americans were victims of identity theft in 2008 – a 22 percent increase from 2007. In their April 2007 report, the President’s Identity Theft Task Force identified the Social Security number as the “most valuable commodity for an identity thief.”
The pro-consumer legislation would prohibit federal, state and local governments and the private sector from selling, except in very limited circumstances, Social Security numbers. The bill would also prohibit the display of Social Security numbers to the general public including on the Internet and identification cards. Numbers would also no longer be allowed to be included on checks. Also, under the bill prisoners could no longer access Social Security numbers through their jobs. The new consumer privacy safeguards would be enforced by tough, new criminal and civil penalties.
Johnson re-introduced the legislation with U.S. Congressman John Tanner (8th Dist.-Tenn.), Chairman of the Ways and Means Subcommittee on Social Security. “Identity theft is facilitated by the easy availability of SSNs in many public- and private-sector records,” Tanner said in Congressional Record remarks when introducing the bill. “SSNs are valuable to criminals because they are relied upon by business to authenticate identity. They are the skeleton key that unlocks many other sources of private, personal information.”
“It’s time to stop talking and take action to prevent ID theft and protect Americans’ privacy. Let’s get to work,” concluded Johnson.
Johnson represents portions of Dallas and CollinCounties in North Texas.
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