House Republican Press Release

April 25, 2006

Press Office: 860-240-8700

House Approves Identity Theft Bill Cosponsored By Rep. Giegler

On Tuesday, April 18, the House of Representatives approved legislation cosponsored by State Rep. Janice Giegler, R-138, that would help protect Connecticut residents from Identity Theft. House Bill 5694, An Act Concerning The Unlawful Use Or Possession Of Scanning Devices And Reencoders, moves the State Senate for consideration.

HB 5694 would require businesses to take reasonable steps to ensure any documents containing a customer’s personal information are shredded or otherwise rendered unreadable. Under the bill, “personal information” includes such identifying information as a signature and Social Security, bank, and credit card numbers. It also requires disposal companies to take reasonable measures to protect against unauthorized access to personal information.

In addition, the bill prohibits using a scanner to read the information on a customer's payment card without permission or to use a reencoder to take information from a payment card and encode it on a different card without. It also authorizes the attorney general to sue to enforce the provisions and set criminal penalties for them.

“Identity Theft is a leading consumer complaint of the past several years," said Rep. Giegler. "Unfortunately, it has become relatively easy to obtain an individual’s personal financial information, causing many to be victimized. This legislation is an example of the Legislature’s commitment to preventing consumer fraud."