Delaware Valley state governments are actively developing and implement laws to protect the local individual against identity threats. Just as with the federal government, the state governments are focusing on making it harder to illegally obtain identity information by requiring users and holders of identity information to maintain proper protection procedures. Delaware Valley states passed tougher laws which went into effect during 2006. It is important that you become aware and more importantly, become compliant with the new information security requirements.
NJ
According to New Jersey's Office of Attorney General, the "Identity Theft Prevention Act," which took effect on January 1, 2006, is the most comprehensive and easy-to-use identity theft prevention law in the nation which gives consumers the tools they need to protect their financial well-being.
Click here for details and additional resources.
PA
Here are links discussing the PA Identity Theft Law that went into effect in 2006 (signed into law in December 2005):
Article about PA Governor signing Identity Theft Law,
Here's an overview of the law,
Official text of the law (PA SB 761)
Here's an article discussing both the PA and NJ identity theft laws.
Some resources for victims of identity theft in PA:
Agencies for PA residents to contact if they become victims of identity theft: https://www.dot3.state.pa.us/identity_theft/agencies.shtml
Community Legal Services of Philadelphia has a good discussion on "Criminal Identity Theft" in Pennsylvania and what can be done by the victim.
DE
H.B. 334 Signed by governor 6/30/06, Chapter 338
Creates identity theft "passports" for persons who are victims of identity theft and have filed police reports regarding such thefts. The office of the attorney general may issue a passport if reasonably assured that the applicant has an adequately substantiated claim. A victim of identity theft may present a passport to a law enforcement agency to help prevent his or her arrest or detention for an offense committed by someone other than the victim who is using the victim's identity, or to a creditor to aid in the creditor's investigation and establishment of whether fraudulent charges were made against accounts in the victim's name or whether accounts were opened using the victim's identity. Consumer reporting agencies must accept the passport as notice of a dispute and must include notice of the dispute in all future reports that contain disputed information caused by the identity theft. Law enforcement agencies and creditors are given discretion to accept or reject the passport. A passport application and its supporting documentation are considered confidential criminal justice information and are exempt from the public disclosure provisions of the Freedom of Information Act. Requires the attorney general to adopt regulations to implement the issuance of identity theft passports.
S.S. 1 for S.B. 109 Signed by governor 6/30/06, Chapter 328
Creates protections for Delaware credit consumers. This Act permits consumers to “freeze” access to their credit files. Since identity thieves can only access the credit of their victims upon permitting access to the victim’s credit history, a “credit freeze’ would stop identity theft in its tracks. This credit freeze will be easy to use and available to all consumers. By January 31, 2009, this bill requires that consumer authorized access to credit histories take no longer than 15 minutes. The bill also provides an identity theft victim the right to request that a police report be prepared regarding such crimes. (Source: NCSL)
Ways Consumers Can Help Prevent Identity Theft:
What consumers can do in Delaware to prevent identity theft. (PDF)
Some resources for victims of identity theft in DE:
http://www.state.de.us/attgen/fraud/consumerprotection/idtheft.shtml
GENERAL
Bibliography of Federal, State, Consumer and News Resources about Identity Theft - Current laws, pending laws and related - a very good resource.
Consumer Debit Resource: Identity Theft Information (What consumer can do to protect identity).
There are some basic general first steps that can be taken by an individual immediately upon discovering personal information or documents are stolen: "If someone has stolen your personal information or identification documents, you can do several things to prevent the misuse of that information if you act quickly. For financial account information, such as a credit card or bank account, close the accounts immediately. If you believe your Social Security number has been stolen, call the toll-free fraud number for any of the three major credit bureaus and place a fraud alert on your credit reports. If your driver's license or other identification documents are stolen, you can contact the issuing agency and follow their procedures to place fraud flags and to get replacements." (Source: ISSA)
See prior article about important Federal Identity Information Protection Laws
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