Overview

Week after week, we are reminded how poorly banks, data brokers, and other entities are protecting our personal and financial information. In 2005 alone, over 49 million individuals had their personal information exposed as a result of a security breaches at companies like DSW Shoe, MasterCard and ChoicePoint. These breaches put consumers at increased risk of identity theft. Armed with your name, address, account numbers and social security number, identity thieves have all they need to drain your credit and bank accounts, open new lines of credit, or assume your identity.

Easy access to consumers' confidential identifying information, including social security numbers, has contributed to this epidemic. Credit card companies, merchants, credit bureaus and other businesses do not adequately safeguard consumers' private financial information, making it relatively easy for thieves to steal this data and use it to take out new credit or to rack up charges on existing accounts.

Fortunately, we have been successful in getting several important reforms passed in Illinois that should help reduce identity theft and help victims clear their names. On January 1st, 2007 an Illinois PIRG-backed policy that allows consumers to place a security freeze on their credit report went into effect. The new law gives consumers more control over their personal, private financial information to help prevent becoming a victim of identity theft. The Federal Trade Commission reported over 11,000 people in Illinois were victims of identity theft last year. A security freeze takes advantage of a simple fact: a new creditor won’t give you credit without checking your credit report. If an identity thief can’t give creditors access to your credit report, creditors won’t let him make purchases in your name.