New ID Theft Laws
To help Hawaii residents better protect themselves against the growing problem of ID Theft, Governor Lingle proposed a comprehensive package of bills to address identity theft during the 2006 legislative session. The Legislature adopted six bills and the Governor signed the bills 
on May 25, 2006.
If you’re a business owner and would like more information on how these new identity theft laws will affect your business, click here.
Below are brief summaries of the new laws. To see the full text of the Act, click on the Act number.
Act 135 (Notification of Security Breaches). 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. Takes effect on January 1, 2007.
Act 136 (Destruction of Personal information). The law, sometimes referred to as the "dumpster diving" law, 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. Takes effect on January 1, 2007.
Act 137 (Social Security Number Protection). Restricts businesses and government agencies from disclosing consumers’ Social Security numbers to the general public. Businesses and government agencies have until July 1, 2008 to comply.
Act 138 (Security Freeze). Allows victims of identity theft to place a security freeze on their credit reports, which will help prevent identity thieves from taking out credit in the victims’ good names. Takes effect on January 1, 2007.
Act 139 (Criminal Penalties). Establishes "unauthorized possession of confidential personal information" as a class C felony and adds identity theft as an enumerated offense within the repeat offender statute. Took effect on May 25, 2006.
Act 140 (ID Theft Task Force). Better protects Hawaii’s citizens from identity theft by changing the name of the Hawaii Anti-Phishing Task Force to the Identity Theft Task Force and expands the Task Force’s responsibilities to include prevention of identity theft. Took effect on May 25, 2006.
Page last modified
07-20-2007 03:50 PM
