LANSING – The Michigan House of Representatives today passed a plan to help better protect Michigan residents from the fast-growing crime of identity theft and enable victims to obtain compensation when they spend thousands of dollars to get their lives back in order and restore their credit history.
"It can take years and cost thousands to get your life back after someone steals your identity," said State Representative Marc Corriveau (D-Northville). "This plan will make it easier for victims to be paid back for all of the time and money they put into restoring their good name. With identity theft on the rise, it's important that we give our residents the tools they need to fight back."
Identity theft has surpassed drug trafficking as the No. 1 crime in the nation, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. The total cost of identity theft in the U.S. in 2006 was $49 billion. Victims paid about $4.5 billion of this, and the rest was paid by merchants and financial institutions. According to the Identity Theft Resource Center, about 10 million people are harmed by identity theft each year.
The key parts of the plan that passed the House today will:
- Allow victims of identity theft to file civil suits to be compensated for the money spent to repair their financial affairs and credit history, and require courts to order restitution for victims.
- Require businesses to have an identity theft prevention plan; failure to do so would result in a fine of up to $10,000.
- Require any data that includes unencrypted personal information to be destroyed when it is removed from the database of a business or agency.
"Requiring businesses to have a solid identity theft prevention plan will help protect our residents' personal information, which is necessary in this digital age of thievery," said State Representative Kathy Angerer (D-Dundee). "As we work to create jobs and get our economy back on track, we also must empower our residents in the face of the rapidly growing crime of identity theft. I urge the Senate to move quickly to approve this plan."