NY Governor Signs Identity Theft Protection Laws

New York Governor George Pataki announced today that he signed three measures into law that will further protect New York's consumers and their privacy. These bills establish the Consumer Communication Records Privacy Act, place limits on the use and disclosure of Social Security account numbers, and further clarify and define what is considered a computer crime.

"These important new laws are yet another step towards ensuring that New York consumers do not fall victim to identity theft," Pataki said. "As criminals continue to come up with new schemes to steal consumer's personal information, we must enact stronger laws that ensure the safety and privacy of our consumers and protect them from identity theft. These three laws address the needs of our consumers and their families, while continuing to demonstrate that New York remains a leader in the fight against identity theft."

The Consumer Communication Records Privacy Act protects consumers by prohibiting the sale, fraudulent transfer, or solicitation of a consumers telephone records without consent from the consumer. This information is confidential and protected by both telephone companies and telephone consumers, and unauthorized release of telephone records harms consumers by taking away their sense of privacy, safety and security.

The bill to guard against the potential misuse of Social Security account numbers (SSN) will enact a new law placing limits on the use and dissemination of this information. Specifically, the new law:

• Prohibits the intentional communication of an individual's SSN to the general public
• Restricts businesses' ability to print an individual's SSN on mailings or on any card or tag required to access products, services, or benefits
• Prohibits businesses from requiring an individual to transmit his or her encrypted SSN over the Internet
• Requires businesses that possess SSNs to implement appropriate safeguards and limit unnecessary employee access to SSNs

As consumers become more heavily reliant on computers to accomplish everyday tasks such as paying bills, and online-shopping, it is important to ensure that laws are in place to protect these consumers from computer-based fraud. A new measure keeps up with continually evolving computer technology by further defining and clarifying New York State's Penal Law as it pertains to the unauthorized use of computers. This measure strengthens existing law to allow for the prosecution of those who intentionally disrupt, steal personal information, and plant malicious programs on consumer's computers without authorization.

These new identity theft laws build upon existing laws that are designed to safeguard consumers from identity theft schemes such as the Security Freeze Law, the Disposal of Personal Records Law and the Anti-Phishing Act of 2006.