Governor Bob Riley recently signed legislation intended to prevent identity theft by enhancing privacy protections of Social Security numbers.

The new law signed by Governor Riley on Thursday prohibits any state agency, department or board from revealing or placing the Social Security number of a person on any document available for public inspection without the person's consent.

"In an era when identity theft is the fastest growing crime in America, this change is a common sense way to enhance the privacy protections of our citizens," said Governor Riley. "Social Security numbers are much sought after by identity thieves who use them to assume a person's identity and commit fraud. Alabamians can feel a little safer because of the restrictions being put on the disclosure of their Social Security numbers."

Under the new law, if a person does not give consent to reveal their Social Security number on a state government document, the state must redact, remove or cover the number before making the document available for public inspection. The law does contain exceptions for certain documents including liens, records of judgment such as convictions, and bankruptcy filings.

Senator Del Marsh and Representative Steve Hurst sponsored the bill.

The law goes into effect on July 1.