President Bush Signs New Identity Theft Measure (free annual credit reports)

UK Guardian ^ | December 4, 2003 | wire report

[hapc]

Presidnet George W. Bush Thursday signed legislation giving consumers new protections against identity theft, including free annual credit reports and a national fraud alert system to minimize damage once a theft has occurred.

The legislation renewed the Fair Credit Reporting Act, which sets a national credit reporting standard to make it easier for people to get credit cards, loans and mortages.

Set to expire at year's end without reauthorization by Congress, the current national credit reporting system helps the economy by making it easier for consumers to get credit quickly.

Under the legislation that President Bush signed, consumers will be able to call, email or write the three major credit bureaus for a free copy of their credit report and their credit score each year to help them understand why their credit was denied or approved.

It will also require businesses to black out Social Security numbers, credit card numbers and debit card numbers on reciepts, and require the coding of medical information on credit reports.

Consumers will also get one call protection because it requires credit bureaus to share consumer information reporting identity theft.

[moyden2000]

Identity theft from hospital records in rampant.

[litany_of_lies]

Haven't heard this one. Is it as simple as somone on Medical Records copying the Soc Sec and personal data and setting up accounts in their name, or is there more to it than that? Maybe setting up accounts in dead people's names would work.

[Cobra Scott]

How about knowing not only the name, address, SSN, etc of the victim, but also knowing that they are elderly, have no immediate family, and are stuck in the hospital for at least a certain amount of time.

Not only do they get the info they need, they can cherry pick the ones who will be esiest to defraud.

[tahiti]

Under the legislation that President Bush signed, consumers will be able to call, email or write the three major credit "...bureaus for a free copy of their credit report and their credit score each year to help them understand why their credit was denied or approved.

It will also require businesses to black out Social Security numbers, credit card numbers and debit card numbers on reciepts, and require the coding of medical information on credit reports."

Unconstitutional law. Both mandates violate the 5th amendment.

"...nor shall private property be taken for public use without just compensation."

To make the law mandates constitutional, a corresponding tax has to be levied in order to collect the necessary revenue to be paid to all of the private property owners for the "taking" of their property, obviously for the public use, to fulfill the mandates.

Not a nickels worth of difference between a Democrat and Republican.

[OldFriend]

I have noticed that only the last four digits appears on credit card receipts.

As a victim of credit card fraud a few years ago, this is a good step, altho a baby step for sure.

[OXENinFLA]

It will also require businesses to black out Social Security numbers, credit card numbers and debit card numbers on reciepts,

IT'S ABOUT TIME!!!

[ImphClinton]

They need to do something about companies that fruadulently report as active loans settled by a bankruptcy or in some other legan manner.

Right now there seems to be nothing for a consumer to do if a company lies and says a loan is active that was included in a bankruptcy.

[petitfour]

I vaguely recall reading here on FR something about credit bureaus moving off shore or outsourcing to India (or somewhere) or something due to this law that they knew was about to take effect. Maybe someone else recalls what I am vaguely talking about. It was alarming to me at the time, but I did not bookmark it nor did I post to it. (I think.)

[aimhigh]

This legislation is worthless. Symbolism, not substances. To stop identity theft, make the credit card companies liable for basically giving away people's identitities to the crooks.

[Dems_R_Losers]

Everyone, please enjoy your "free" credit reports. Testimony at a Congressional hearing on this bill, which was undisputed, said that the cost of providing "free" credit reports to all consumers will exceed the combined 2003 annual profit of all the major credit bureaus. So it is a matter of time until your credit card interest rates and other charges increase, your free checking account disappears, etc.

There is a lot of other regulatory crap in this bill that is going to increase the cost of financial services, while it is doubtful that any of it will make a dent in the identity theft problem.

[litany_of_lies]

I dispute your contentions.

What is in MY credit file is information about ME that should be accessible by ME for FREE.

I even question the rights of the bureaus to collect the info about me at all without my permission. I never signed a contract with Experian, Equifax, or Trans Union; the loan contracts that informed my that I must assent to giving my info to them should be bogus without such an agreement with the bureaus themselves.

However, since that battle will never be fought, let alone won, the least the people who spread info about me should do is give me free access to it. This should have been a cost of doing business all along, and if it slightly restricts access to credit in the marketplace, too bad, so sad.

I doubt that it will. Instead, it SHOULD reduce the number of people who apply for credit who don't have a prayer of getting it. and SHOULD increase the fees the bureaus and Fair Isaac rake in from selling credit scores. I'm sure the bureaus will steer users towards the Internet, which will reduce costs substantially. Also, Experian provided free reports to everyone for about 5 years in the 90s and somehow survived.

IMHO credit scores should be free too, since those are the magic numbers lenders rely on. Remember, this is info about me. What in blazes makes anyone think I should have to pay to get it?

So right now the raw data is free, but the thing that really matters, the score, isn't. This is half a loaf at best.

[tracer]

Free credit reports for years have been available to all loyal subjects in the People's Republik of Merryland. Makes a man proud.

BTW, did anyone ever notice that the battle banner carried by "Chef" in a recent episode of "South Park" is a dead-on replica of Maryland's state flag?