Steps From The President’s Task Force To Prevent Identity Theft
In May of 2006, President George W. Bush signed a presidential order to create the very first identity theft task force in the United States. This was just another step on the part of the President to protect his public from the crime of identity theft. Three years earlier he had enacted legislation that required better security measures on the part of venders to protect sensitive payment information, such as credit card numbers. The identity theft task force was made up of 17 different departments and worked hard to put together a strategy to reduce the number of Americans falling victim to identity theft. By September of 2006, the task force had developed preliminary recommendations to be adhered to until the identity theft task force set up by the President could develop something more detailed and in depth. This article will briefly discuss four of the interim recommendations made by President’s identity theft task force.
Data Breach Guidelines For Government Agencies
The task force suggested that the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) develop and distribute to government agencies a booklet outlining the steps to be taken in case of a data breach at a government bureau. This would include information on when and how to notify affected individuals and what compensations, such as free credit monitoring, should be provided to protect said persons from identity theft.
Development Of Uniform Police Report
The identity theft task force recommends that a uniform police report be created to simplify the procedure consumers must go through to report identity theft crimes to the police. A form could be providing online to victims of identity theft that could be filled out conveniently at home and then printed out and brought to police stations to verify and enter into the police reporting system. This form would streamline and expedite the reporting process.
Reduce The Use Of Social Security Numbers
Social Security numbers provide anything but social security. In fact they are one of the most-used means behind identity theft. The task force has recommended that the OMB take steps to lessen, or eliminate the use of social security numbers in an attempt the decrease the exposure of the identification numbers to possible identity thieves. Furthermore, alternative methods of identification, such as individual employment numbers, should be explored by the OMB as suggested by the identity theft task force. By improving the security of social security numbers, it could be possible to reduce the number of identity thefts committed annually.
