The privacy issues and notification issues indicate a couple things to me,
including the following:
(1) This is an obvious area where there will need to be additional law
enforcement resources applied, and...
(2) It would make sense for those of us who are on this list, and thus
better informed than many others to take steps to secure our own credit....
There are services that can help us, and there are steps that we can each
take with credit reporting organizations to ensure that we not become
"victims".
As much as I might like to place the blame on the organizations charged with
protecting this information.....and, certainly they can now do a better
job..... Protecting my credit remains fundamentally my responsibility.
By the way, for those who are concerned, have you noted that there is public
information, available on the web, that sometimes includes social security
numbers?.... That would include court record filings (especially in the case
of child support orders), and property record transactions, where those
preparing the documents have sometimes included SSN's?
Douglas P. Allen, CRM, CDIA+
-----Original Message-----
From: Records Management Program [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf
Of Hugh Smith
Sent: Monday, May 09, 2005 10:37 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Accountability from those who handle financial records
On May 8, 2005, at 12:03 AM, Automatic digest processor wrote:
> Sorry Hugh but several of these were asked by law enforcement agencies
> to NOT reveal the breach. California Cyber Security requires companies
> to reveal security breaches immediately UNLESS law enforcement says
> don't
>
> pak
> --
> Peter Kurilecz
> Richmond, Va
>
.............and, in the meantime, the interests of the citizen are
trampled. Our credit information is exposed and we are left in the dark.
The cyber thief or those who specialize in Identity Theft is given exactly
what he or she wants, which is time to pilfer accounts or create identities
with no awareness by the individual that such a theft of their information
is made known.
If the information contained is about my family and your family, then we
should be made aware at the same time the bank is aware. Whether they
announce it in the newspaper or CNN is another issue. If someone breaks
into your house, and steals my car out of your garage, shouldn't the police
notify both of us? We are both victims.
The question is: who is really the owner of the information? If they have
my SSN, my bank account information, my credit card information and that
information can hurt me then I should be made aware. Especially since the
banks pushed through legislation about bankruptcy, any risk exposure they
create is now even more dangerous.
But if these thefts can be hidden from the victims by law enforcement, does
this create more or less liability for the bank? Can they hide behind the
"We couldn't tell you of your exposure because the police (or FBI) asked us
not to." I think a responsible Bank would have said "We have a
responsibility to our depositors and credit card holders to alert them to
their exposure."
This is why I bank with a locally owned bank. If something would happen, my
personal bank officer would call me and alert me to the risk. They would
not view this the same way a big conglomerate would. They would look at the
effect this would have on their local businesses and neighbors.
So again, it is about Accountability from those who handle our financial
records. Failure to disclose to their clients for so many weeks is an error
in judgment in my opinion.
It is ironic that we worry so much about the Patriot Act violating our
personal rights by gathering information about us without our consent but
myriad banks have financial information on us.
Choice Point and many other credit reporting companies may have our
financial information and we have never given them permission to gather and
accumulate it. And if they lose it, they along with the police may decide we
don't have a right to reasonable notification to act to protect ourselves.
> Sorry Hugh
I am really sorry that this legislation was written with a caveat that helps
protect the bank while it tramples on our rights.
Hugh Smith
FIRELOCK Fireproof Modular Vaults
[log in to unmask]
(610) 756-4440 Fax (610) 756-4134
WWW.FIRELOCK.COM
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