Comments Submitted by PrivacyActivism and the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse to the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human and Services

January 18, 2005

Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology
Department of Health and Human Services
Hubert H. Humphrey Building, Room 517D
200 Independence Ave., SW
Washington, DC 20201
Filed electronically: NHINRFI@hhs.gov

RE: Comments on National Health Information Network – Request for Information

Submitted to the Federal Reserve Board by
Privacy Rights Clearinghouse
Electronic Privacy Information Center
CALPIRG and
U.S. PIRG

Jennifer J. Johnson, Secretary
Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System
20th Street and Constitution Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20551
Submitted: regs.comments@federalreserve.gov

RE: Comments -- Open-End (Revolving) Credit Rules – Docket No. R-1217

Dear Secretary Johnson:

Dylan received a phone call at work (by name) that offered him a free cholesterol screening as part of a research study by Astrazenica. He was told that they received his name from a patient list at his health insurance company. Concerned about his name being given for a study without his permission, he contacted his health insurance company.

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.