Comment Number: 531096-00318
Received: 9/5/2007 9:27:43 PM
Organization: Atwater Enterprises
Commenter: James Atwater
State: TX
Agency: Federal Trade Commission
Rule: Private Sector Use of SSNs
No Attachments

Comments:

Ladies and Gentlemen: Congressmen and Senator’s of the United States of America First and foremost the American people are appreciative of your work and efforts to assist in our privacy needs, protection of our assets and our identities. As a citizen of the United States I thank you for your efforts to protect and serve the people of this great country. I would like to comment on the protection of the Social Security Numbers in making them inaccessible. This inaccessibility could and will cause a great trauma in the field of protecting the citizenry. My industry, private investigation, depends on the ability to help the public, corporations and general interest of criminal laws both for prosecution and defense in areas that law enforcement and government can not. We are truly a line of defense for the public concerning matters the government is trying to protect the citizens from; identity theft, theft, fraud, scams and spam, physical and mental harm etc. The list goes on and on. Examples of the need for access by legitimate private investigators to help protect our population is: Heir location and confirmation – just recently a daughter was found that had not been seen or heard of for over 40 years. With the ability to cross reference identifiers this person was located and provided a deserved inheritance from her father who had specifically requested that she be provided her share. She was his only offspring. Internet stalking and suspected fraud – everyday social security numbers are used to identify specific persons known to be stalking or creating fraud against an American citizen. Without access to numbers of identity we would not be able to protect our citizens from fraud and theft created by greed of others. Both adult and children missing persons: The ability to trace activity of suspects and victims of kidnapping or illegal abductions by a family member is of great importance to an investigator both private and law enforcement. There are many times private investigators are retained to go further and faster than law enforcement but always in cooperation with them. Family members are often found and returned when there was no means for law enforcement to do so. Pedophile identity can not be confirmed without proper identifiers. Irresponsible parents that put their information and families on the internet and young teens and children that place their identities and locations on the internet can not be helped by private industries investigators without having access to what privacy advocates are wanting to close down or the government feels fear to leave open. One such case lead to the communications of a mother who innocently placed living locations and children identities and activities on the internet chat room of bingo. Research concluded after complications in the marriage that the mother was chatting with a pedophile in across the country and sexual pervert within her own state. With access to the proper identifiers these two men could not have been properly identified and stopped. Without access to these identifiers we would not be able to protect our corporations from fraud and thefts that take away from the employees of these companies that provide important income to the public which in turn flows to the growth of the community. An example of the need to have access to identifiers was when an applicant stated they had been a supervisor in a state penitentiary. After retainment of the applicant and inner corporate problems it was discovered by the private investigator that the applicant was not a supervisor of the penitentiary but was incarcerated in that institution herself. WE as private investigators are not asking for a blank check to filter through private information to report to the public what we feel they have the right to know. We are for an exception for our industry for the assistance to people that can not get assistance from any other source. WE are not asking for special privileges for our work but are asking for an exception to placed in the laws giving our industry the right to go forward in assisting the public as we have done for many years. Private investigators are not information minors. We are people offering assistance to the public. We do not delve into millions of records just to access private identities. We do not divulge information of millions for profit. AND, we do not go looking for something so we can tell the people what we can do just because we can do it or write a story about it. What the press and the privacy advocates wish for you to believe is that through the private investigation field thousands of identities have been lost or people have been killed. When in fact the government itself has lost millions of peoples identities just by mistake that has been place on the black market for the purpose of “identity theft”. Millions of people’s identifiers have been lost through the hacking of data systems over just a few people that investigators research for the protection of employers, families, criminal defense, insurance fraud and the fear of loss of assets. Help us help your constituents with the problems they can not get help from law enforcement or the government. Nor other industry helps the people of this country, its industries and its government (both high and low) than does the private investigator. Meet investigators to know that they are, to know what they about and to know that they are professional people wanting to give back to a communities that has given to them. Call any state association or call NCISS for the contact numbers of private investigators from all across the United States and world. Thank you for your time and patients in reading my mail. Respectfully, Jim Atwater TLPI, TCI Past Secretary Texas Association of Licensed Investigators Past member of the Texas Supreme Court Process Servers Review Board Member of TALI and Intelnet Owner of Atwater Enterprises Experts in family law investigations, fraud, data recovery and computer fraud Midland, Texas