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Crackdown On ID Theft Continues
by Chloe Albanesius
As news of network hackings continues to make headlines, several states have moved forward with legislative efforts to combat identity theft.
In North Carolina, House lawmakers on Monday unanimously approved a bill, S. 1048, that would strengthen protections against ID theft.
Specifically, the measure would restrict the sale and display of Social Security numbers and attempt to minimize their use as identification. The bill also would let consumers freeze their credit reports if they think their IDs have been stolen. And businesses that trash documents with people's personal information would have to destroy or shred those documents.
"We're putting new safeguards in place to help everyday people protect their sensitive personal information, and we're making it harder for criminals to get their hands on your information in the first place," said Attorney General Roy Cooper, who proposed the measure.
The state Senate passed the legislation in May.
The North Carolina bill includes language like that in a California law that requires companies to notify customers if their personal information is accessed. On Monday, California Assembly members moved to strengthen that law by unanimously approving a measure, S.B. 13, that would amend that state's notification law to include all breaches, not just computer-based security lapses.
"The state needs to take a hard look at its data-sharing laws to make sure Social Security numbers and other key data identity thieves thrive on aren't being handed out like party favors," state Sen. Debra Bowen, the bill's sponsor, said in a statement.
The Senate passed the measure on a 31-4 vote in May, and the chamber must consider it again because of amendments adopted in the Assembly.
In Ohio, meanwhile, state House lawmakers earlier this month approved a notification bill, H.B. 104, that would require any state or local agency to notify residents within 45 days of computer breaches where personal data may have been accessed.
And embattled Gov. Bob Taft on Wednesday signed a measure, H.B. 15, that calls on the Rehab and Corrections Department to establish a database of state inmates that includes information on their offenses, sentences and release information.
Wyoming Launches Health Technology Effort
Wyoming healthcare officials on Tuesday announced the formation of a public-private partnership intended to further the implementation of health information technology.
The Wyoming Health Information Organization (WYHIO) will be chaired by Geoffrey Smith, a Casper radiologist. He has been working with the state's Information Technology and Technical Management Subcommittee on a study mandated by the legislature to examine the efficacy of creating a uniform, statewide health IT and communications system.
That study is due to lawmakers next month, and WYHIO intends to continue the work. The first order of business will be securing health IT grants, Smith said in a statement. The group has received advice on how to secure those funds from the office of U.S. Sen. Mike Enzi, the Agency for Healthcare Quality and Research, and the U.S. Health and Human Services Department.
Smith will be joined on WYHIO by seven Wyoming healthcare experts, including representatives from the state Health Department, the Wyoming Hospital Association and the Wyoming Medical Society.
In other news, Texas Gov. Rick Perry on Friday appointed the 17 members of the state's emerging technology fund. The organization, mandated by the legislature, will make recommendations to Perry, the lieutenant governor and the House speaker on technology investments that would best benefit the state.
The Republican governor said in a statement that he is "confident in the expertise and vast experience" of those selected. "This fund will improve research at our universities, help startup technology firms get off the ground, and significantly reduce the time it takes to move new life-changing inventions out of the lab and into the hands of consumers."
Members include: Pamela Eibeck, dean of engineering at Texas Tech University; Bill Sproull, president of the Richardson Chamber of Commerce and the Metroplex Technology Business Council; and Johannes (Hans) Stork, the senior vice president and chief technology officer of Texas Instruments.
N.D. Body To Host Wireless Conference
The North Dakota Public Service Commission has announced plans for a September conference on wireless communications.
The one-day gathering in Bismarck is co-sponsored by the Bismarck-Mandan Chamber of Commerce and will discuss wireless deployment in small and emerging markets, the building of wireless markets and the government's role in wireless deployment. Steve Largent, president and CEO of the wireless trade group CTIA, will present a luncheon keynote speech on how the industry affects the nation's economy.
Elsewhere, staffers from Capitol Hill and the FCC this week traveled to New Mexico and Texas to educate local policymakers about challenges faced by independent, rural telecom companies.
The National Telephone Cooperative Association (NTCA) played host to aides from the offices of Reps. Nathan Deal, R-Ga.; Randy Neugebauer, R-Texas; and Nick Rahall, D-W.Va. Randy Clarke and Jeremy Marcus from the FCC's Wireline Bureau also participated. The officials toured the facilities of two small telephone provider in Clovis, N.M., and Muleshoe, Texas, and met with NTCA companies to discuss trends in rural telecom.
The Sacramento Bee also reports that California officials are considering splitting a billion-dollar contract for telecom services. CALNET II might award four small contracts for specific services instead of one contract for bundled services. The move comes after the General Services Department received feedback from vendors, said Matt Bender, a department spokesman.
Also in California, the state's Public Utilities Commission on Thursday will consider a policy statement that would support customers' right to purchase digital subscriber line (DSL) Internet service without also purchasing phone service from providers, which is known as "naked DSL."
Group Criticized Over Sales-tax Resolution
Georgia state Rep. Earl Ehrhart on Monday criticized the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) for passing a resolution during its annual meeting in support of the Streamlined Sales Tax Project (SSTP), which aims to allow taxes on Internet sales.
"NCSL and its leadership are pushing an idea that will increase taxes and reduce local control of tax policy," said Ehrhart, who serves as national chairman of the American Legislative Exchange Council. "When their incoming chairman refers to businesses as 'Internet bandits,' there is little doubt that this is also the start of a backdoor effort to tax the Internet as well."
While Georgia participates in SSTP, "we like many others have not adopted the conforming legislation called for by the SSTP," he said.
Ehrhart challenged Illinois state Sen. Steve Rauschenberger, the NCSL task force's co-chairman and a gubernatorial candidate in 2006, to a televised debate on the issue. "Let's put NCSL's tax-increasing ideas to the test in the court of public opinion," Ehrhart said.
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