House, Senate Address Identity Theft

RALEIGH — The state's two legislative bodies seem intent on doing something about the ever-growing problem of identity theft. The N.C. House recently approved legislation that would help protect consumers from having their personal information stolen by identity thieves. A companion bill has been introduced in the Senate. The House bill would minimize the use of Social Security numbers as ID numbers, give consumers the right to put a freeze on credit reports to prevent thieves from opening new accounts, require businesses to notify cusotmers if a security breach may compromise customers, and require businesses to dispose of personal records responsibly.