Just about everyone I know believes they should have control over who can read their personal information. For many, including me,
credit reports fall into this personal information category. However, only a few states have laws which will stop someone from obtaining your credit information without your approval.
Ohio does not yet have such a law.
House Bill 339, sponsored by Rep. Timothy DeGetter, will allow Ohio residents to request that credit bureaus "freeze" their credit information. The actual text of the bill is somewhat hard to follow if you are not familiar with credit bureaus and credit reports. There is a
press release that summarizes the bill located on Rep. DeGetter's website.
I recommend that you
write your representative and tell them you support this bill. The sooner it is passed, the sooner you can stop worrying about the possibility of Identity Theft in relation to your financial data.
I believe action is needed to insure that this bill passes. In
an article posted to their website on 12/05/2005, the National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies (NAMIC) reports that "
According to the Ohio Insurance Institute (OII), a NAMIC state advocacy partner, broad opposition to this proposal has already been established and the bill does not appear likely to pass." Why is the insurance industry interested in bills of this nature? Because in some states they can use credit scores to help determine who they will insure. Indeed, in
another article from their site they state that "NAMIC will work throughout the 2006 session with our industry partners to ensure that “credit file freeze” bills are reasonable, uniform and limited in their application." See the sidebar link titled "
Insurance Companies use Credit Information" for more information.
You can
find the name and contact information for your House Representative by going to the Ohio legislative pages (see sidebar link). You can then write either a letter or send an email stating your support for this important bill. I will post an example for you to look at, but also use your own experiences and opinions. There are many industries that make money from selling and/or using your information. You can bet that they are lobbying representatives to either limit or not pass the bill.
Also, tell everyone you know who might be interested. Please don't just rely on email. In this day of rampant email, often important information can get lost. The effort you put forth now could ensure that in the future you won't need to waste more time, and money, should your information get into the wrong hands.
