Majority Floor Leader Kathy Angerer (Dundee) speaks on the floor of the Michigan House of Representatives on Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2009, about her legislation to create the Identity Theft Commission, a part of the House Democrats' comprehensive plan to prevent identity theft and increase consumer protections. The House passed the plan and sent it to the Senate.
LANSING – The Michigan House of Representatives today passed a comprehensive plan introduced by House Democrats to toughen penalties for identity thieves and strengthen consumer protections for victims.
"Today's criminals are much more sophisticated than someone on the street demanding your wallet, and we have to make sure consumers are protected from them," said Majority Floor Leader Kathy Angerer (D-Dundee), a sponsor of the plan. "More and more these days, criminals use high-tech tactics to steal something far more valuable than the money in your pocket – your identity. As criminals evolve, so must our consumer protection laws. This legislation will make sure Michigan's laws do not fall behind."
The House plan will create the Identity Theft Commission, a group within the Michigan Department of Information Technology that will study new and evolving ways to prevent identity theft. Other key parts of the plan that passed the House today will:
- Force identity thieves to compensate victims for damage done to their financial affairs and credit history, and require courts to order restitution for victims.
- Require businesses to have a written identity theft prevention plan to protect consumers.
- Protect customers' personal information by requiring that any data that includes unencrypted or unredacted personal information be destroyed when it is removed from the database of a business or agency.
- Prohibit an individual from using another person's personal information to mislead law enforcement officials or courts regarding an individual under investigation.
Identity theft is the fastest growing type of fraud in the country. In 2008, about 9.9 million Americans reported being victims of identity theft – a 22 percent increase from 2007, according to the U.S. Congressional Research Service. According to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), identity theft costs consumers nearly $50 billion each year.
"The key to avoiding identity theft is deterrence and prevention," said State Representative Robert Dean (D-Grand Rapids), a sponsor of the plan. "At a time when there is so much financial uncertainty in our state, our residents need these protections to make sure criminals are not depleting their bank accounts or ruining their credit. In addition to safeguards for our consumers, our plan toughens penalties against the faceless predators who steal identities. I applaud my colleagues for standing up for our residents by protecting their personal information."