OREGON TOUGH ID-THEFT LAWS NEEDED http://159.54.226.83/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060524/OPINION/605240304/1048

Stories illustrate need for tough ID-theft laws
House likely will review Rep. Hooley's plan soon

May 24, 2006

Three stories in Tuesday's Statesman Journal show why identity theft is such an attractive career path for criminals: It's easy.

Page 3A: A Department of Veterans Affairs analyst takes information home without permission, the home is burglarized and whoops -- someone has the names, birthdates and Social Security numbers of 26.5 million veterans.

Page 1A: Wells Fargo & Co. tells its customers that a computer full of clients' personal information was stolen this year. The company held off telling customers, supposedly because an unnamed law enforcement agency asked it to do so.

Page 3C: Several Stayton businesses toss forms containing personal information and even an uncashed check into the trash, where a reporter doing a story about identity theft finds them. How many households and businesses throw similar items in the garbage or recycling without a second thought?

There's no word that thieves have taken advantage of any of these opportunities to drain people's bank accounts, charge fraudulent purchases or otherwise ruin honest citizens' good names. But whether the slip-up involves one local customer or most of the nation's veterans, the potential is there. The damage can require hundreds of hours to repair; any identity-theft victim will agree.

This is an old, old story. People have heard about identity theft until their eyes glaze over. They know it's fueling the meth epidemic because this crime is easy to commit, difficult to trace and practically risk-free for the criminal.

So why is a major government agency, let alone the data-rich Department of Veterans Affairs, running such a slipshod operation? How could Wells Fargo officials delay so long before contacting customers and offering them credit-monitoring help?

U.S. Rep. Darlene Hooley got it right: The way to stem this epidemic is to get tough with those who collect and keep financial information. In the fall, she introduced a bill to do that; HR 3997 should come before the full House soon. Among other things, it would require businesses and government entities to promptly notify consumers if their personal financial information is lost and to provide six months of free credit monitoring.

Those are time-consuming, expensive penalties. But given the grief such lapses can cause, they sound about right.