IPFS News Link • Identity Theft
Advocates Propose Child ID Theft Prevention Database
• InformationWeekWith the increasing theft of children's
identities, the Identity Theft Resource Center (ITRC) has issued a call
for the Social Security Administration and Department of Justice to
create a tool for credit issuers to assess whether a social security
number belongs to a minor.
"The credit issuers currently are blind, they have no way of knowing
which year the social security number was issued, but even that
wouldn't help, because it could have just been issued to a 40-year-old
person who just got citizenship," said Linda Foley, co-executive
director of the ITRC, founded to help prevent identity theft and
support identity theft victims.
The "Minors 17-10 Database" proposed by the ITRC
would contain the name, social security number, and month and year of
birth for every child, between birth to the age of 17 years and 10
months. "We don't want to provide information to the thieves, which is
why there are limited fields," said Foley. Furthermore, the list's
purpose would be very specific: "so a credit reporting agency could
tell an agency, such as Chase, that the social security number belongs
to a minor," she said. Legally speaking, minors cannot sign contracts,
thus any such application would have to be immediately rejected.
1 Comments in Response to Advocates Propose Child ID Theft Prevention Database
This is a bunch of crap. This capability already exists. Credit reports currently provide indicataters for a "valid" SSN, the year it was issued and the state it was issued in. It's the credit grantor's responsibility to review that information and determine what additional information they will require to verify the identy of the individual.
For instance, if I was to receive an application from a 40 year old individual with an SSN that was issued last year, I'd inquire and require verification of the reason for that.
This measure would prevent some instances of identity theft. But, if the credit grantors just did their due deligence, it would be unnecessary.
The credit bureaus have too much info and control over our lives as it is. I'm not in favor of our government giving them more control by registering my children with them at birth!