| Senator
David Cappiello (R-Danbury) is supporting legislation currently
in front of the General Law Committee that would cut down
on the growing problem of identity theft and consumer credit
reports. The bill would enable individuals to place a security
freeze on his or her credit report and establish a personal
identification number to be used to access credit reports.
If passed, the law would take effect in October.
“It is
my belief that establishing a pin number that only the individual
is aware of would certainly cut down on instances of identity
theft,” explained Senator Cappiello. “Rather
than allowing a social security number to be used as the
primary means of identifying oneself to creditors, individuals
would use pin numbers that are not nearly as simple to obtain.
Such a measure would go a long way towards preventing criminals
from stealing others’ identifying information, whether
it be credit card numbers or social security numbers, to
apply for a credit cards or loans.
The legislation
is based on a similar law that passed in California recently.
“Instances
of stolen credit card and social security numbers being
used for fraudulent purposes is a nation-wide problem that
is on the rise,” said Senator Cappiello, who serves
as Ranking Member of the General Assembly’s General
Law Committee. “It is astounding how easily these
while-collar criminals can gain access to people’s
identification and use it for fraudulent purposes. I am
hopeful that our legislation will significantly reduce this
criminal behavior.”
There
will be a Public Hearing in the General Law Committee on
the bill today at 2:00 PM in Room 2A of the Legislative
Office Building. |
