Bill would limit consumers' credit rights
Bill would limit consumers' credit rights
Updated 6/15/2006 4:00 PM ET
By Byron Acohido, USA TODAY
SEATTLE — Congress is considering pre-empting laws in 17 states that allow anyone to freeze their own credit and instead restricting the privilege to ID theft victims.
The proposed Financial Data Protection Act of 2006, expected to be voted on by the House as soon as next week, comes on the heels of the recent theft of sensitive data for 26 million veterans and active duty military personnel. If it becomes law, vets and military personnel who live in states that permit unrestricted credit freezes would lose that option.
A credit freeze cuts off access to your credit history. Since most banks and merchants insist on seeing a credit report before issuing credit, identity thieves can't open bogus accounts using ill-gotten data. Under the bill, backed by the financial services industry, simply having your data lost or stolen isn't enough. You must file a police report describing a specific instance of it being used to commit a crime.
"It's like telling someone you can't put a deadbolt on your front door until after you've been burglarized," says Washington state Attorney General Rob McKenna.
Rep. Steven LaTourette, R.-Ohio, the bill's co-author, says credit freezes must be held in check to keep the financial system from unraveling. "Even the simplest process of buying groceries with your credit or debit card will break down if we allow a patchwork of competing and conflicting state laws," he says. Evan Hendricks, editor of Privacy Times, and other critics counter that the bill abolishes the rights of citizens who live in states that permit anyone to request a credit freeze. "It's a nightmare bill for consumers," Hendricks says.
The bill also would pre-empt laws in 29 states requiring companies, institutions and agencies to notify individuals about security breaches compromising their data. It sets national criteria for data protection and breach disclosures, and puts banking and Treasury officials in charge of compliance.
Proponents say fewer breaches will result. "If we can protect the data better on the front end, it will diminish the need for law enforcement to chase down the bad guys," says Andrew Barbour, vice president of government affairs for the Financial Services Roundtable, a banking lobbying group.
But critics say the bill tramples states' rights and undermines the consumer-protection role of state attorneys general. "If you have a strong federal standard, that's one thing," says Susanna Montezemolo, policy analyst at the Consumers Union. "But this is a very weak federal standard."
Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., says banking and Treasury regulators lack the "ability and the inclination" to expand consumer-protection duties. "It's just not what they do," he says. "They're busy worrying about the financial stability of the world."
Updated 6/15/2006 4:00 PM ET
By Byron Acohido, USA TODAY
SEATTLE — Congress is considering pre-empting laws in 17 states that allow anyone to freeze their own credit and instead restricting the privilege to ID theft victims.
The proposed Financial Data Protection Act of 2006, expected to be voted on by the House as soon as next week, comes on the heels of the recent theft of sensitive data for 26 million veterans and active duty military personnel. If it becomes law, vets and military personnel who live in states that permit unrestricted credit freezes would lose that option.
A credit freeze cuts off access to your credit history. Since most banks and merchants insist on seeing a credit report before issuing credit, identity thieves can't open bogus accounts using ill-gotten data. Under the bill, backed by the financial services industry, simply having your data lost or stolen isn't enough. You must file a police report describing a specific instance of it being used to commit a crime.
"It's like telling someone you can't put a deadbolt on your front door until after you've been burglarized," says Washington state Attorney General Rob McKenna.
Rep. Steven LaTourette, R.-Ohio, the bill's co-author, says credit freezes must be held in check to keep the financial system from unraveling. "Even the simplest process of buying groceries with your credit or debit card will break down if we allow a patchwork of competing and conflicting state laws," he says. Evan Hendricks, editor of Privacy Times, and other critics counter that the bill abolishes the rights of citizens who live in states that permit anyone to request a credit freeze. "It's a nightmare bill for consumers," Hendricks says.
The bill also would pre-empt laws in 29 states requiring companies, institutions and agencies to notify individuals about security breaches compromising their data. It sets national criteria for data protection and breach disclosures, and puts banking and Treasury officials in charge of compliance.
Proponents say fewer breaches will result. "If we can protect the data better on the front end, it will diminish the need for law enforcement to chase down the bad guys," says Andrew Barbour, vice president of government affairs for the Financial Services Roundtable, a banking lobbying group.
But critics say the bill tramples states' rights and undermines the consumer-protection role of state attorneys general. "If you have a strong federal standard, that's one thing," says Susanna Montezemolo, policy analyst at the Consumers Union. "But this is a very weak federal standard."
Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., says banking and Treasury regulators lack the "ability and the inclination" to expand consumer-protection duties. "It's just not what they do," he says. "They're busy worrying about the financial stability of the world."
posted by shummer60 at Friday, June 16, 2006
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