FTC Urges Congressional Focus On ID Theft
Congress should consider taking legislative steps to strengthen procedures that private-sector organizations use to authenticate their customers' identities, the FTC recommended in a Wednesday report on Social Security numbers and identity theft. Currently, the only private-sector entities subject to nationwide authentication standards are financial institutions regulated by the federal banking agencies and the FTC said lawmakers should ponder imposing similar rules to cover other industries that maintain consumer accounts.
"Such standards would require organizations to adopt reasonable procedures for authenticating customers, but also would allow them to adopt a program that is compatible with their size and the nature of their business," the report states. The FTC report also recommended that steps be taken to reduce the unnecessary display and transmission of SSNs, but noted such restrictions must be approached carefully. A number of important functions in the U.S. economy depend on use of and access to SSNs, and the report concluded that overly restrictive attempts to limit the availability could unintentionally curtail those functions.
Various bills were introduced in the House and Senate in the 110th Congress that were intended to address problems associated with SSNs as well as larger ID theft issues. Read more about the FTC report here.
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