Hawaii Says Aloha to Credit Freeze

Although Hawaii ranked towards the middle
of all states for identity theft, three new laws
will go into effect starting this Monday to
provide residents first rate protection in 2007.

Notification of Security Breaches (Act 135)

Requires businesses and government agencies that keep
confidential personal information about consumers to
notify those consumers if that information has been
compromised by an unauthorized disclosure.

"Personal information" means an individual's first
name or first initial and last name in combination
with any one or more of the following data elements,
when either the name or the data elements are not
encrypted:

• Social security number (ssn)
• Driver's license number (dmv)
• Hawaii ID card number or account number
• Credit or debit card number
• Financial account access code or password.

Note, it does not include publicly available information
that is lawfully made available to the general public
from federal, state, or local government records.

Destruction of Personal Information (Act 136)

Requires businesses and government agencies to take
"reasonable measures" to protect against unauthorized
access to an individual's personal information when
disposing of the records they keep.

Either shredding of documents or securely erasing
electronic media are required for any records containing
personal information.

A special note here is the company is even responsible
for auditing any contractors they hire to dispose of the
records containing personal information.

Social Security Number Protection (Act 137)

Restricts businesses and government agencies from
disclosing consumers' Social Security numbers to
the general public.

What this now means for an entity in Hawaii must
not intentionally do any of the following with a
complete social security number (ssn)

• Make publically available
• Print on any membership or services card
• Transmit unencrypted or unsecured over the internet
• Require a person to access a website
• Non employee related printed materials mailed

So, our tip for today is for any anyone you know
who is a resident of Hawaii. Take advantage of
your substantially improved rights against identity
theft and privacy invasion by unauthorized individuals.

Freeze your credit file to secure your financial
protection against thieves by contacting any of the
three major credit bureaus. Secondly, any membership
or services cards you now hold may very well be
immediately invalid under the new laws.

Contact your providers to get new id cards issued
without your social security number (ssn)
included. Once you have received your new cards,
make sure to shred your old cards.