Presentation by Beth Givens, Director
at Identity Theft Summit on March 1, 2005
Sacramento, CA, Convention Center

Conference sponsored by California District Attorneys Association, California Office of Privacy Protection (Calif. Dept. of Consumer Affairs), and California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger

March 4, 2005

Donald Hilla, Senior Staff Counsel
California Department of Insurance
45 Fremont Street, 21st Floor
San Francisco, CA 94105

Submitted electronically: hillad@insurance.ca.gov

RE: File No. ER05043832 – Property Loss Databases

Dear Mr. Hilla:

Derecho de Autor © 1991-2006.
Privacy Rights Clearinghouse / UCAN
Revised March 2005.

ChoicePoint, Bank of America Scandals Underscore Weakness of Current Laws

The recent security breaches of sensitive customer information held by ChoicePoint and Bank of America have underscored how vulnerable consumers are to threats of identity theft and the need for stronger protections to reduce such fraud. Watchdog groups are calling for new laws that provide proper oversight of businesses that collect and sell sensitive consumer information and tougher safeguards to give consumers the tools they need to stop identity theft before it starts.

UPDATE: As of noon, February 28, the credit bureaus began to allow linking to the annualcreditreport.com site from other sites. To see what the previous non-linking "blacklisted" message looked like prior to the credit bureaus' change in policy, see  Figure 2 in the Call Don't Click report.

Joel Winston
Associate Director
Financial Practices Division
Bureau of Consumer Protection
Federal Trade Commission
600 Pennsylvania Ave., NW
Washington, DC 20580

Re: Demonstrated Consumer Risk due to Online Link Blocking by www.AnnualCreditReport.com. Fifty “Live Imposter” Domains Luring Consumers Away from the Official Free Credit Report Site.

Dear Mr. Winston:

A new federal law, known as the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act, or FACTA, adopted by Congress in 2003 gives consumers nationwide the right to receive a free copy of their credit report. The law is being phased in through the U.S. and Midwest states are next on the rollout list. The ability for consumers to get a free copy of their credit report annually started on the West Coast on December 1, 2004, and individuals living in the Midwest can start receiving their reports on March 1, 2005.

By John S. Caragozian*
350 South Grand Avenue, Suite 3500
Los Angeles, California 90071
tel.: (213) 617-8050
fax: (213) 617-8653
e-mail: Caragozian(at)aol.com

[The response to this article by the California Association of Licensed Investigators, July 2006]

New Report Identifies Problems With And Related To The Federally Mandated Free Credit Report Site www.annualcreditreport.com

 Update: April 20, 2005

Note: As a result of the February 2005 breach, ChoicePoint implemented a number of privacy policies and procedures. Visit: www.privacyatchoicepoint.com.