COMMENTARY
Action has been taken to fight identity theft
By Sen. Carol Fukunaga
Identity theft presents a serious threat to everyone in Hawai'i, endangering not only their immediate financial interests, but also their long-term ability to obtain credit and employment. That is why the state Legislature has taken action to protect our citizens through better enforcement of existing laws, enacting additional laws and planning for the future security of sensitive information.
An Advertiser editorial characterized the progress in our fight against identity theft as moving at a snail's pace. Nothing could be further from the truth.
In 2006, the Legislature passed seven bills aimed at fighting identity theft. Act 135 requires government and businesses that experience a security breach to notify the people affected by the breach. The act also requires that these businesses or government agencies notify the Office of Consumer Protection and all consumer reporting agencies for any breach over one thousand persons at one time.
Among the other bills passed:
Together, these new provisions offer better protection for Hawai'i consumers, more effective prosecution of identity theft cases, and a pathway to improved practices in government operations.
The recent theft of sensitive personal information from the Department of Health's Wahiawa WIC program database illustrates both the dangers we face and how these new protections come into play.
The theft appears to be the work of a Department of Health employee. Upon learning of the database breach, the Department of Health responded by notifying the families whose information was at risk, allowing them to take further action to protect their identities and credit.
In short, the new laws worked as intended, giving these families the chance to respond to the security breach in a way that prevents further damage.
However, the fact that it appears that a Department of Health employee — someone who was authorized to access the database — stole the WIC clients' information raises serious questions that remain to be addressed. While the law now limits the use of Social Security numbers and mandates the safe disposal of documents and records containing sensitive information, government computers contain a mass of previously collected information that could pose a danger in the wrong hands. Safeguarding this information is no small task.
This effort falls under the authority of the Identity Theft Task Force, whose charge was expanded and funded by Act 140. In phase one of the project, the task force will define the information to be protected, identify best practices in other jurisdictions for protecting sensitive information, and review current practices by Hawai'i state and county agencies. In phase two, it will review the current volume of pertinent documents and the potential for growth or decline in that volume, examine how best to remove sensitive information from public documents, propose a timetable for removal, and recommend solutions to questions related to the protection of Social Security numbers. The task force's work will be completed by the end of 2007.
The work of the task force and the time allotted for its completion are vital to the long-term success of our efforts to protect sensitive personal information under the control of our state and county governments.
While everyone who is aware of the dangers of identity theft would prefer to have a solution sooner rather than later, we must acknowledge that an effective solution is more important than an instant solution. No one would be served by an approach that was arrived at quickly, but that provides no more than a false sense of security.
We have taken action, and will continue to act to protect the people of Hawai'i.
State Sen. Carol Fukunaga, D-12th (Makiki, Ala Moana, Tantalus), wrote this commentary for The Advertiser.
