February 21, 2003 -- NEWS RELEASE -- State Representative Al Juhnke
JUHNKE CO-AUTHORS CONSUMER PRIVACY PROTECTION PACKAGE
Rep. Al Juhnke is among a group of 34 lawmakers who introduced a package of seven bills designed to protect the privacy of consumers' personal financial information and crack down on identity theft.
"This is a comprehensive package to address a serious and growing problem in today's electronic society," Juhnke, of Willmar, said. "If we don't take steps today to protect consumer privacy, not only will consumers suffer but it could derail the growth of internet-based commerce with serious effects on our entire economy. Privacy protection and control of personal financial information isn't just a right - it's a foundation stone of the new information economy."
The highlight of the package is a pair of measures that require banks and telephone companies to obtain consumer authorization before selling, exchanging or disclosing personal financial information or information about a subscribers' calling habits to a third party. Those are similar to bills introduced in past years that were stymied by business lobbyists, but Juhnke said consumer demand for privacy protection increases every year.
"Eventually, even the most hardened pro-business legislator is going to hear the outcry," Juhnke said. "People just don't want to put up with the constant barrage of sales calls and junk mail."
The other bills in the package will:
* Make theft of mail a state crime, giving prosecutors more options in charging - and more opportunities to convict - persons who obtain Social Security numbers, credit card numbers and other personal information by stealing mail.
* Toughen sentences by requiring judges to consider an offender's "misuse of a position of trust to help assume another's identity" when sentencing a defendant on a theft or fraud charge.
* Prohibit the printing of full credit card numbers on sales receipts, which would protect consumers by eliminating the possibility that a thief could get their card number off a discarded, lost or stolen receipt.
* Restrict the use of Social Security numbers on material passing through the mail or over the Internet, prohibiting websites from requiring users to submit a Social Security number as a password, and prohibiting companies from printing your number on any card required to access their services.
* Prohibit any public or private college from selling or giving the names, addresses and telephone numbers of their students to a credit-card issuer (bank or other financial institution) without the student's consent. It also bars colleges from entering into any agreement to market credit cards to their students on behalf of a card issuer.
