THE NATIONAL VOICE OF
THE PRIVATE INVESTIGATION & SECURITY INDUSTRY NATIONAL COUNCIL OF INVESTIGATION & SECURITY SERVICES,
INC.
FOR IMMEDIATE
RELEASE –
Recent developments following breaches at data brokers
and financial institutions have led to calls for immediate regulatory and
legislative action. Private
investigators agree that regulatory and/or legislative mandates for timely
notification of breaches are an appropriate response. We support Senator Feinstein’s bill, S
115 “Notification of Risk to Personal Data Act''. The recent disclosures have also led data
providers to renew and upgrade their vetting of clients, including private
investigators, who require the data.
The National Council of Investigation and Security Services (NCISS)
agrees that data providers should do appropriate due diligence to assure
that information is used only for legitimate purposes. Legislative Responses Should be Focused Investigators
are extremely concerned that in the current atmosphere public officials
will be pressured to create an overbroad regulatory scheme that will be
harmful to the court system and commerce.
And ironically, some of the suggestions being made would be
counterproductive to the goal of fighting identity theft and other
frauds. Statutory solutions should
focus on securing personal data, not restricting its use by legitimate
entities. The
National Council of Investigation and Security Services (NCISS) has learned from experience that the best of legislative
and regulatory intentions can lead to harmful unintended consequences. The 1996 amendments to the Fair Credit
Reporting Act ultimately led to an unanticipated requirement that employees
suspected of theft be notified when an employer retained third parties to
investigate the theft. It took years
before Congress was able to remedy that error with passage of the Fair and
Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACTA). Privacy
groups have been using the public’s legitimate concern over the recent
breaches to push a far broader agenda.
Their suggestions would result in limiting the ability of businesses
to verify the identity of customers, to conduct background checks, and
collect debt. If barriers are
erected to prevent legitimate business from accessing identifying
information about an individual, then the identity thieves will have an
easier time. If one can’t confirm a
Social Security number or other unique identifier, then the ID thief will
have an easier time claiming to be Bob Jones. Page 1 of 2 President First Vice President Brian P. McGuinness Second Vice President Almeda Dunn Third Vice President Al Cavasin Secretary Eugene Ferraro Treasurer Julius “Buddy” Bombet Chairman of the Board Neal Holmes, Jr Region 1 Steve Kirby Peter Psarouthakis Region 2 James Carino Jimmie Mesis Region 3 Maria Vinson Landry Lynette Revill Region 4 Jon McDowall Greg Twardowski Region 5 Robert A. Heales Tom George Region 6 Francie Koehler Ray Smothers Members at Large Bert Falbaum Al Cross EXECUTIVE
DIRECTOR Carolyn S. Ward Fax: E-Mail NCISS@comcast.net www.nciss.org
BOARD MEMBERS
Private Investigators Use Data for the Public Good
Private investigators use data from brokers to facilitate
justice. We use the data to locate
witnesses, find heirs, locate lost children, obtain child support, and detect
fraud. Police authorities do not have
adequate resources to solve ID theft cases, and many victims end up using
private investigators. If the services
investigators use to solve these cases are restricted, we’ll not be able to
serve clients as effectively and an additional burden will be placed on public
authorities.
Recent Legislation
Congress has not been idle in recent years with regard to identity theft and personal information. FACTA, which includes many provisions affecting identity theft, was enacted only last Congress. In addition, more severe penalties for ID theft were imposed with enactment of the Identity Theft Penalty Enhancement Act. The impact of these statutes is only now being felt. Congress should gauge the success of these measures before acting to broadly limit access to information that is so essential to commerce.
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Contact: Bruce H. Hulme, Chairman
NCISS Investigations Legislative Committee
Tel
& Fax: 1-914-767-0625
Email:
specialinvestigations@worldnet.att.net