Letter to the Editor

Get serious about identity theft

Thu, 10/29/2015 - 9:30am

Dear Editor:

It is nice that Senator Susan Collins seems concerned about identity theft in her editorial page article last week, but makes no mention of Data Security Act of 2015 which is stalled in the Republican controlled Senate Committee on  Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. Nor has she stood up in support of the Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights that would shift some of the risks of dealing with identity theft back to those who control this personal and private information. Instead she focuses on small aspect of the problem.

Her focus on this one concern is like running to put out a burning house with a cup of water.

Breaches in our information security infrastructure are large and largely not addressed. Private industry and government agencies complain that regulation would be burdensome yet they fail to take responsibility for securing our personal data. Instead they expose even the most careful people to the ever increasing prospect of loss due to identity theft. And it is the public who ends up suffering for their failure to take responsibility.

Tell Senator Collins that she needs to get serious about protecting the American public from the ravages of identity theft and support a Consumer Bill of Rights and the Data Security Act of 2015.

Fred W. Nehring

Boothbay