Amid the whirring of pigs’ wings and crackling of ice from the underworld comes another unexpected noise: the sound of someone in government actually taking charge. Believe it or not, federal agencies across the board have been given 120 days to go through their files, track down every unneeded SSN, and put a plan into place to “eliminate the unnecessary collection and use of Social Security numbers within 18 months.”
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In fact, all signs point to the President’s Identity Theft Task Force report, having had its 15 minutes in the sun, drifting into that muddy dead zone where so many pro forma reports end up. Mind you, I’d love to be wrong about this. But as recent history should have taught us, the only thing that’s likely to put an end to the mindless abuse of our data by our government is people like you and me waking up, getting very angry, and getting very, very loud about it. So let’s get this party started. And bring the noise.
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Amid the ongoing flood of computer thefts, network hacks, and other breaches of personal data comes a sign that businesses and government agencies can actually be held accountable, more or less, for putting people’s identities at risk. To wit: New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has announced a settlement with CS Stars, a Marsh Inc. affiliate, which the AG had accused of violating New York’s breach notification law in a case involving some 540,000 New Yorkers.
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The response to last week’s massacre at Virginia Tech ran the emotional gamut, from stunned compassion for the victims and their families to anger at the shooter and perplexity at the slow response. Now comes a warning to temper our compassion with a measure of suspicion. The U.S. Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT) and other security experts are sounding the alarm that phishers and other scammers have moved quickly to exploit the tragedy, just as they did in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.
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Credit freezes and identity theft are at the center of a hot debate in the sunny state of Arizona, where …
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Yesterday Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott charged RadioShack with tossing thousands of customer records — hers included — into a trash can in an alley behind a RadioShack store near Corpus Christi. We’re talking names, addresses, telephone numbers, Social Security numbers, and credit and debit card information — an identity thief’s dream.
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How would you feel if you found out your state was selling your name, address, and Social Security number to …
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