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Lawmakers out to stop ID theft Bills address release of data
Legislature inundated with bills dealing with privacyDate published: 1/14/2007 RICHMOND--Legislators have introduced a slew of privacy-related bills this year. Many of them deal with requirements to remove personal information from documents that could be public under the Freedom of Information Act. A search of the state's legislative Web site shows 64 bills relating in some way to privacy issues, including one that would ensure the anonymity of those who carry out state executions. Even more bills relate to the FOIA. But most privacy bills this year seem related to the growing problem of identity theft, and are aimed at preventing identity thieves from finding targets within government and court documents. For example, there's a bill to remove Social Security numbers from court documents and land records. Another would remove Social Security numbers from voter records before those records are sold to anyone in another state. A third just makes it generally illegal to make publicly available someone else's Social Security number, even if the number was gotten from public documents. Sponsors of some of the bills said privacy issues, especially identity theft, are becoming more and more important to constituents, who then take their worries to lawmakers. "People are very, very concerned about identity theft," said Sen. Jeannemarie Devolites Davis, R-Vienna. "It's becoming more of a populist issue. The Internet is what's raising the issue." Devolites Davis has a bill that says Social Security numbers cannot be used on land records after 2010, and that the FOIA does not apply to land records available over the Internet through a "secure remote access" program. Devolites Davis said the rise of online activity is driving privacy concerns; before the Internet, someone interested in identity theft had to go to an office and face a real person to get government documents. Sen. Ken Cuccinelli, R-Fairfax, has legislation that would exempt from public view the portions of records that contain identifying information about a person, including Social Security numbers, credit card numbers, date of birth, signatures or other such information. Cuccinelli, like Devolites Davis, said privacy issues resonate with constituents, and they've been asking him to do something. The more technology advances, he said, "the more important it is to defend the information" coveted by identity thieves. "That's only going to increase," Cuccinelli said. He said government is still trying to determine how much time and money to spend on making data safe. "Somewhere there's a balance," Cuccinelli said.
Date published: 1/14/2007
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