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Stearns Calls Hearing on the Use of Social Security Numbers and the Threat to Privacy

Date: May 10, 2006
Location: Washington, DC
Issues: Senior Citizens Entitlements and the Safety Net


STEARNS CALLS HEARING ON THE USE OF SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBERS AND THE THREAT TO PRIVACY

PART OF PANEL'S ONGOING WORK ON DATA SECURITY AND PREVENTING IDENTITY THEFT

"Social Security numbers were established to track an individual's earnings and the amount of Social Security taxes to credit to each account," explained Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-FL), Chairman of the Commerce, Trade & Consumer Protection Subcommittee. "Although intended to be a unique identifier for government purposes, Social Security numbers now are used for personal identifiers, especially in financial transactions. However, these numbers increasing are misused, namely for identity theft."

Stearns is holding a hearing titled "Social Security Numbers in Commerce: Reconciling Beneficial Uses with Threats to Privacy," on Thursday, May 11th, at 1:00 p.m. in Room 2123 RHOB. "In this hearing, we will examine if current laws provide enough protection, how the numbers are being misused in identity theft and other crimes, and we will ask for input on the various bills dealing with protecting Social Security numbers," said Stearns.

http://www.house.gov/stearns/PressReleases/PR2006Releases/pr-060510-IDtheft.html

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