Legislature(2005 - 2006)BELTZ 211
02/14/2006 01:30 PM Senate LABOR & COMMERCE
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| SB244 | |
| SB222 | |
| SB177 | |
| SB255 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| + | SB 177 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| *+ | SB 255 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| += | SB 244 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| += | SB 222 | TELECONFERENCED | |
SB 222-PROTECTION OF PERSONAL INFORMATION
CHAIR BUNDE announced SB 222 to be up for consideration and then
noted he would set it aside to wait for the bill's sponsor.
SB 222-PROTECTION OF PERSONAL INFORMATION
CHAIR CON BUNDE announced SB 222 to be back up for
consideration.
SENATOR RALPH SEEKINS moved to adopt CS SB 222(L&C), version F.
SENATOR JOHNNY ELLIS objected for discussion purposes.
MR. WAYNE LEIGHTY, staff to Senator Therriault, co-sponsor of SB
222, testified that the first change adds law enforcement
agencies to Alaska's Department of Public Safety that is
authorized to put a temporary hold on a "Notice of Breach of
Security" while an investigation is performed. Item two conforms
language to current California law regarding how documents with
social security numbers on them are mailed.
Item three allows for situations when collection or submission
of a social security number is under state or federal law. Item
four adds language to the social security number section to
clarify that a business can require other forms of
identification to verify the identity of a person they are doing
business with. Item five, Article 8, is a new section and
requires truncation of a credit card number on all printed
receipts. Under the general provisions in Article 9 "or
conflicts" is deleted and states that federal law is preemptive.
He said they continue to work with the stakeholders
SENATOR ELLIS removed his objection and version F was adopted.
2:00:35 PM
SENATOR BUNDE asked if a driver's license could still be used.
MR. DAVE STANCLIFF, staff to Senator Therriault, co-sponsor of
SB 222, replied yes, but added that industry is finding other
ways to verify identifications, which would give those companies
the competitive edge.
2:02:57 PM
SENATOR SEEKINS said he wouldn't support this bill unless the
state was held to the same accountability standard as private
industry.
MR. LEIGHTY informed the committee that it is possible for
individuals to get credit reports and background checks
completed without using social security numbers now.
CHAIR BUNDE said the state is issuing I.D.s without social
security numbers.
2:05:34 PM
SENATOR SEEKINS said he thought this bill would change the way
he analyzes credit in his automobile dealership. But customers
should still know that their information must be accurate with
the understanding that if it isn't accurate, it constitutes
fraud and has a penalty that goes with it.
STEVE CLEARY, Alaska Public Interest Research Group (AKPIRG),
supported SB 222. He said that the Choice Point Incorporated
Company leaked a lot of personal information that exposed
consumers to identify theft about a year ago. Since that time
more than 52 million people have been put in danger of identify
theft because of security breaches. Alaska topped the nation in
fraud complaints last year with 249 per 100,000 persons
according to a Federal Trade Commission (FTC) report that also
states that identify theft has topped the list of nationwide
complaints for the sixth year in a row. The average consumer
spends about 175 hours of their own time clearing their name
after an identity theft.
MR. CLEARY said the two most important measures in SB 222
mandate that consumers be notified after a security breach,
which would allow them to freeze their credit reports. This
would at the very least minimize or even eliminate the danger of
identity theft. Twenty-seven states have filed security freeze
bills and 12 states have these laws now.
2:13:19 PM
SENATOR SEEKINS asked if the biggest threat is being able to
access someone's credit report, people leave their personal
information in many places during the course of a day. He
related that for him to rent a car in Orlando, he had to show
his driver's license that has his social security number,
address and name on it. "With those three things, you can really
get into someone's - you can steal their identity."
2:18:23 PM
SENATOR THERRIAULT agreed that it gets easier every day to
access people's information and lawmakers must try to keep up
with the new ways.
2:20:46 PM
SENATOR BEN STEVENS agreed with Senator Seekins that public
entities have to be held accountable the same as private ones.
He related how he banks, invests and pays everything online and
he went through an exercise to see how easy it would be to steal
his identity and he easily accessed his personal information
from a Virginia county tax roll, a Mat-Su borough tax roll, the
Anchorage municipality tax roll and on the state web page for
the Commercial Fisheries Entry Commission. So, where he actively
transacts in money, he couldn't get it, but in all the places he
did find it, it was related to a government entity.
2:22:28 PM
SENATOR ELLIS agreed that government must be held to high
standards. He asked if the administration had indicated it was
heading in that direction.
SENATOR GUESS also agreed that the government has to be held to
the same standard as private industry and stated that she had
received a three-page letter from the Attorney General's Office
saying that, while the state might have instances when it needs
to get a social security number, there are many instances in
which it gathers social security numbers without a legal reason.
She said, "We're trying to parse through those right now."
Other issues have arisen such as if the state should be open to
civil suits or whether it should be held to the same standard in
all instances. She said:
It is our belief that we shouldn't differentiate
between business and government. It's people who have
our personal information and those will be the
discussions that we're going to have in Senate
Judiciary.
2:24:46 PM
SENATOR SEEKINS moved to report CSSB 222(L&C), version F, from
committee with individual recommendations and attached fiscal
note. Senators Ellis, Seekins, Ben Stevens, Davis, and Chair
Bunde voted yea; and it was so ordered.
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