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Protecting your identity
by Dan Olson, Minnesota Public Radio
February 27, 2005

ChoicePoint, a provider of identification and credential verification services, reported that a group of cyber criminals was able to obtain personal information on nearly 145,000 people by using the company's system. The identity thieves potentially gained access to names, addresses, credit reports and Social Security numbers. (Photo by Erik S. Lesser/Getty Images)

Been thinking about what you can do to prevent identity theft? Turns out there are some tools. One of the biggest arrives March 1st. Starting then Minnesotan's and residents in surrounding states can get one free copy a year of their credit report. Experts say that'll help consumers spot incorrect information and alert them to fraudulent activity. Beyond that, experts say, there's little we can do to control the spread of our personal information and limit who has access to it.

St. Paul, Minn. — John lives in Eagan and says he's a bit obsessive about privacy. He prefers, for example, that his last name not be used. He observes all the usual safeguards to reduce the chance of identity theft. Like many, he destroys unsolicited credit applications and old financial records. John goes further.

When he buys a product he doesn't return the postcard-sized warranty registration form with his name, address, income, and other personal information even though he knows his refusal can conceivably lead to disaster.

"Something like a heater. You don't fill out the registration card for it, and they issue a factory recall because the thing can start a fire. I won't get that notice because I didn't fill out the registration card," he says.

For all his efforts to limit the amount of personal information out there about him, John is realistic. He agrees with Beth Givens, the executive director of the California-based nonprofit, The Privacy Rights Clearinghouse.

"There's so much information out there about us it's very, very difficult to take it back if not impossible," she says.

In Minnesota, for example, nearly every piece of information the state collects about us is available to others. Laurie Beyers-Kropuenske, who directs the information policy analysis division of the Minnesota Department of Administration, says that includes criminal information, births, deaths, divorces, child custody, campaign contributions and much more.

"The presumption is that all government data is public unless there's some exception otherwise," she says.

The exceptions include not giving out addresses and phone numbers of people who are victims of domestic violence. Also, Minnesotans can request that some of the personal information we supply when we register our motor vehicles be off limits to the companies who buy the data.

Interest in who sees our personal information is growing because of the problem of identity theft. Privacy Rights Clearinghouse director Beth Givens says one way to spot identity theft early and fight it, is to keep tabs on our credit reports.

A new federal law requires the three major credit reporting companies to supply us a free copy of our credit report. Givens suggests spacing the requests, so you have a better chance of spotting problems through the year.

"Instead of ordering all three of your credit reports at once, think of stretching it out over the course of a year (since) the credit reports largely overlap each other in terms of content," she says.

Givens says a regular check of our credit report lets us know if thieves are using our identity to set up fraudulent accounts. If so, we can ask the credit reporting agency to place a fraud alert on our report which warms legitimate businesses someone using our identity may try to bilk them.

The new federal law contains another effective tool to thwart identity theft if businesses will use it. The law directs banks to verify address changes. If identity thieves open fraudulent checking or charge accounts with stolen information, they often give a bogus address as the location to send the bank statements.

The new federal law directs financial services companies to check the address to see if it matches that of the theft victim. If it doesn't it alerts to bank to a possible identity theft. The rise of identity theft is prompting Congress and states to consider more stringent rules regarding the transfer of our personal information. Minnesota officials are proposing, for example, following California's lead. A law there requires data collection companies notify people whose information has been stolen.

People in this country who support tighter control of the exchange of our personal information point to what Europe is doing. The European Union Data Protection Directive gives people there much more control over their information.

University of Minnesota law professor Judith T. Younger says the European law requires that public and private sector data collectors tell people what the information will be used for, allow people to see the data and make corrections.

"And they must also provide them with notice and opportunity to opt out of data transfers to third parties," she says.

For the moment, Younger says, most Americans don't appear quite as interested as Europeans in limiting the exchange of personal information.