Allie Gottlieb puts the problem of identity theft in perspective in TheWaveMagazine, exploring the myth that identity fraud is on the increase.

FTC Spokesperson Claudia Farrell says complaints of identity theft only seem to be growing. “We don’t know if there has been a growth in the number of crimes,” Farrell says. FTC studies “would suggest that identity theft is not increasing. Consumer awareness may be increasing.” Read the article

Private investigator’s have not contributed to aggravating problem but are integral to resolving complaints. Gottlieb quotes testimonials from PI’s who located heirs, found kidnapped children and freed the innocent from death row - all due to the availability of the social security number.

The absolutist position of extremists in the privacy protection community harms individuals, the courts and business. Let’s hope the states’ legislatures and the U.S. Congress can see through the fog to the obvious: we want to assist in protecting the public. Mike Dores owner of Merlin Information Systems points out Congress may go too far and actually cause more harm than good.

“There has to be an understanding that all the identity theft data that the privacy guys are worried about is all regulated,” he said during a phone conversation. “But to make it illegal because somebody steals it would be the same thing as making hammers illegal because somebody hits you over the head with one.”

SmallTownPapers has collected a searchable database of various newspapers, with page images, some as far back as the 1800’s. Lookup links by state.

The Massachussetts legislature is steps away from sealing criminal records of the accused where the disposition did not result in a conviction. Senate Bill 960 is being reviewed by the Judiciary committee. Read an article

Within six months after this law takes effect, the clerk and the probation officers of each court with criminal jurisdiction shall seal their records of all non-conviction criminal cases whose final dispositions were six years or more before the date on which this law takes effect. Read the bill

The Washington Times notes that private investigators use data on individuals for legitimate legal purposes. It is well known to us that PI’s are not involved in data leaks, breach, peeps or thefts (I was going for theefts!) but Congress and the rest of the world need more explanation of what we do and how it benefits society.

Congress has not addressed the role of private investigators in the half-dozen identity-theft bills proposed this session or planned for introduction soon.

Rep. Cliff Stearns, Florida Republican, said a solution could be to exempt licensed investigators from some restrictions on access to consumer information. “The balance is how much information do we give to private investigators,” said Mr. Stearns, chairman of the House Energy and Commerce commerce, trade and consumer protection subcommittee. “That’s a legitimate question.”

I’ve been collecting links to various State Archives and, State, County and City Historical Societies, for my due diligence work locating descendants. Links to County and City Historical Societies are at each state’s site. Arranged similarly to this Minnesota state page. When I find a useful site, instead of saving it to the dark memory hole of IE “favorites”, I subscribe via WatchThatPage, which sends me email notices as each page is updated.

I was adding additional links to my lengthy list and strolled through the Maine State Archives, which has an online searchable index of deaths from 1960-1996 and marriages from 1892-1996. As I randomly visited some other sites around the U.S., I stumbled on the Nevada State Historical Preservation Office, which has all the Nevada Census indexes, with every field searchable. The Vital Records page at the Arizona state genealogical site has an index and links to the actual document images.

GenGateway.com is a serious, extensive resource for the historical records searcher. It lists gateways to military, obituary and vital records sites. The link to California vital records details the law on obtaining records, provides the contact information and links to free and paid sources. The primary annoyance with most of the non governmental genealogy websites is that they eventually send the researcher to Ancestry.com for many, many searches. This aggregator is to family history records what ChoicePoint is to present-day personal data collection. Ya gotta pay to play at the ruler’s site.

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due diligence

The Minnesota Historical Society website has a searchable index of births from 1900-1910, which they are continuing to expand, and deaths from 1905-1996.
[Thanks to ResearchBuzz.]

Reporting by Prosecutors’ Offices to Repositories of Criminal History Records
Examines the reporting of case dispositions by State court prosecutors to State criminal history repositories. The report looks at the type of final disposition information reported, the method used to transmit, and the length of time required to provide a final disposition. It describes the impediments that many prosecutors encounter which inhibit providing case declinations and other final disposition information to the repository.

In a summary of active legislation broadly classified as “identity theft”, ComputerWorld reports on a proposal in the works, crafted by a representative from Oregon, which would require data brokers notify individuals whenever their information is sold. Are these elected officials in the real world or are they just trying to bring business to a complete halt, while compromising sensitive investigations and numbing consumers with a useless overload of junk mail?

But Sen. Gordon Smith (R-Ore.) told witnesses he plans to introduce another ID theft bill with other committee members.

Smith’s bill could incorporate pieces of Feinstein’s bill and the legislation sponsored by Nelson and Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.). The Schumer-Nelson bill would require breach notification, would require companies to notify consumers when they plan to sell their personal information and would require companies to take reasonable steps to protect personal information.

identity theft

One of the new bits of legislation will remove social security numbers on state-issued hunting and fishing licenses.

Today’s Fox News broadcast features Virginia private investigator and NCISS legislative committee member Pierre Paret talking about the need for data access. A counter statement by the smug privacy advocate, Mark Rotenberg, is kept, thankfully, to one sentence. Go to this link, then select the story, Legislators Push For More Restrictions To Personal Data Access, to view the video.

private investigator