Pryor Gives Consumers a Fighting Chance to Protect Privacy

Pryor Gives Consumers a Fighting Chance to Protect Privacy

Senator Mark Pryor today will introduce a legislative package aimed at giving consumers a voice to protect their financial information and phone records from thieves. He will also introduce a bill today to keep the national Do Not Call Registry free and effective for consumers.

"Individuals are losing control over their personal information as hackers and thieves find new ways to make a buck. My legislation sets up roadblocks to stop them in their tracks," Pryor said.

First, Pryor introduced the Consumer Identity Protection and Security Act to combat identity theft problems that 246,000 individuals reported last year. The Senator said his bill will allow consumers to put a "security freeze" on their financial information, which prevents unauthorized companies or potential thieves from viewing another's credit data without permission or from opening credit accounts in their victims' names. Consumers would have the option of lifting the freeze in advance of applying for new credit. Pryor introduced similar legislation last year, which passed the Senate Commerce Committee as part of a more comprehensive identity theft bill but never came before the full Senate for a vote.

"Congress must act before the identity theft problem gets even more out of hand for consumers and commerce. My bill offers the single, most effective solution to help consumers protect themselves from becoming an identity theft victim," Pryor said. "I'm optimistic it will pass and be signed into law."

Second, Pryor is leading the charge to crack down on online information "brokers" who sell the name and address connected to a cell phone number, and even the complete record of outgoing and incoming calls. He said brokers obtain cell phone records through means which are illegal (having a phone company employee steal records or hack into a company computer) or deceptive (by impersonating the individual to obtain their information from a phone company).

Citing the significant safety and privacy concerns resulting from these transactions, he introduced the Consumer Phone Record Security Act. Specifically, the bill bans any person from obtaining another person's private phone information, designates the Federal Trade Commission and the Federal Communication Commission as the primary enforcement agencies, and allows state Attorney General's and consumers to bring civil actions against fraudsters. The bill will also require phone service providers to better protect customer information.

"Aside from nosy individuals, there are abusive spouses, business rivals and stalkers who can cause a lot of harm with this information. That's why my bill applies tough penalties and strong enforcement mechanisms to end this practice," Pryor said.

Finally, Pryor praised the national Do Not Call Registry for providing consumers a break from telemarketers, and said he would fight to keep the program effective and free for consumers. Pryor's legislation, the Do Not Call Reauthorization Act, would reauthorize the collection of fees from telemarketers by the FTC to maintain and operate the registry. The FTC's current authority expires at the end of 2007.

"As Attorney General, I heard sighs of relief from a lot of Arkansans after we established a state Do Not Call list. I brought this enthusiasm to the Senate, where we were able to fund this registry on a national level," Pryor said. "Today, over 142 million consumers have made it clear they want to eat dinner without interruption. I'm going to fight to keep it that way."

http://pryor.senate.gov/newsroom/details.cfm?id=270289&