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Congressman Stupak's Initiatives

Privacy Policy

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Financial Privacy

Identity theft is on the rise in the country; at least 10 million Americans have been victims of identity theft. According to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), ID theft translated into estimated losses of $48 billion for businesses and $5 billion to consumers in 2006.

This year, in the 110th Congress, I have co-sponsored three bills to help protect Northern Michigan citizens from being victims of identity theft and to avoid having their sensitive financial information available to those who wish to abuse it. First, I am an original co-sponsor of H.R. 958, the Data Accountability and Trust Act (DATA), introduced by Congressman Bobby Rush. This bill would require companies that collect personal data to implement effective security safeguards. If there is a reasonable risk of identity theft of an individual’s personal information, fraud, or other unlawful conduct, these data brokers would be obligated to notify consumers. Additionally, data brokers would be prohibited from falsely representing themselves to obtain personal data. H.R. 958 has been referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce for its consideration.

Also, Congressman Edward Markey introduced H.R. 948, the Social Security Number Protection Act of 2007. I am a co-sponsor of this legislation, which would prohibit the purchase or sale of Social Security numbers. H.R. 948 has been referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce and the House Committee on Ways and Means, Subcommittee on Social Security.

Finally, I am an original co-sponsor of H.R. 964, the Securely Protect Yourself Against Cyber Trespass Act (SPY ACT), which was introduced by Congressman Edolphus Towns. This legislation would protect consumers from harmful Spyware, which may secretly monitor an individual’s internet activity and transmit this personal information to a third party. H.R. 964 would require notice and consent before Spyware software can be downloaded onto an individual’s computer and assure these programs can be easily identified and disabled. Finally, this bill would require Spyware license agreements to inform consumers about what information will be collected. H.R. 964 has been referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.

Rest assured, I will continue to work with my colleagues in Congress to pass these bills and provide adequate security for individual’s financial and personal information.