house Bill H.R. 5192
Protecting Kids From Identity Theft by Making ID Verification More Efficient
Argument in favor
This commonsense, bipartisan bill would help prevent identity theft from harming the financial histories of children by making the process of ID verification more efficient.
···
04/17/2018
This is a start! There is much more that needs to be done in order to protect the innocent from the criminals that are lurking around the world. I would like to see stiffer sentencing in conjunction with this legislation.
···
04/17/2018
This is a no brainer. But it needs to go further. Identity theft needs to be considered a more serious crime. It’s not only peoples money being stolen but their time. The time they must invest in order to sometimes literally get their life back, the time they invested in earning the money and possessions that have been taken from them. When people begin to realize, especially lawmakers, that peoples’ time have been stolen, time they can never be given back, then identity theft will be given the serious attention it needs to be given and perhaps the activities of identity thieves will be significantly curtailed. Yes, identity thieves steal more than a credit rating or money, they steal peoples’ lives, quite often a significant part of it.
Argument opposed
While more needs to be done to prevent identity theft, especially as it relates to children, this bill alone won’t do enough to make a difference.
···
04/17/2018
How about doing more to protect EVERYONE from identity theft and holding the company responsible instead of the individual? I had someone set up an account with Sprint using my SSN and have had to jump through many hoops to try to fix it when the actual problem is with Sprint. The state police laughed when I mentioned sprint because of how often they have to deal with this. Sprint should have to deal with the problem, not me. And maybe if they fix their security, the state police would have more time to deal with real issues.
04/17/2018
Isn’t identity theft a problem for everyone? How about a more holistic approach.
···
04/17/2018
This seems very vague when I read the entire bill and includes fee’s to users that ambiguous. Identity protection is important but I don’t believe this bill has any value.
This is a start! There is much more that needs to be done in order to protect the innocent from the criminals that are lurking around the world. I would like to see stiffer sentencing in conjunction with this legislation.
How about doing more to protect EVERYONE from identity theft and holding the company responsible instead of the individual? I had someone set up an account with Sprint using my SSN and have had to jump through many hoops to try to fix it when the actual problem is with Sprint. The state police laughed when I mentioned sprint because of how often they have to deal with this. Sprint should have to deal with the problem, not me. And maybe if they fix their security, the state police would have more time to deal with real issues.
Isn’t identity theft a problem for everyone? How about a more holistic approach.
This seems very vague when I read the entire bill and includes fee’s to users that ambiguous. Identity protection is important but I don’t believe this bill has any value.
How about we make more kids safe by tackling, oh say, GUN CONTROL laws. Let’s outlaw bump stocks to start with and maybe make assault rifles illegal. That will help make children safe! Please push the Republicans to enact gun control laws! PLEASE.
This is a no brainer. But it needs to go further. Identity theft needs to be considered a more serious crime. It’s not only peoples money being stolen but their time. The time they must invest in order to sometimes literally get their life back, the time they invested in earning the money and possessions that have been taken from them. When people begin to realize, especially lawmakers, that peoples’ time have been stolen, time they can never be given back, then identity theft will be given the serious attention it needs to be given and perhaps the activities of identity thieves will be significantly curtailed. Yes, identity thieves steal more than a credit rating or money, they steal peoples’ lives, quite often a significant part of it.
Social Security numbers should never ever be used for critical identification. This is maybe a bandaid on a real problem but more likely is subterfuge for something else.
Perhaps a use for emerging blockchain technology. Perhaps old school methods such as a written request or personal visit to your local issuing authority would be most secure.
The sticking point for me is the requirement to have SS accept electronic signatures, a step that DOES streamline the process for private companies and financial institutions, BUT actually makes the consumer LESS safe, not more. Yet another blowjob for big corporations that punches consumers square in the throat.
Love to know who the piece of work was that voted no on this
Identify theft of children and ALL people needs to be stopped, but I believe a better system needs to be in place. This should not be all on the back of SSA.
If anything, the SS office accepting electronic signatures makes any process less secure. Electronic signatures are more about convenience than protection. Secondly, why are financial institutions wanting signatures from “children”? Any financial transaction for a minor not involving cash has to be done under the parent’s or guardian’s name. This smells all kinds of fishy.
Anything to protect our kids. And while you're at it, how about more protection for the adult consumer. I.D. fraud is running rabid and ruining innocent lives.
I believe that identity thief protection is needed for everyone, children and adults. I fear if this passes, the bigger problem will never be addressed.
One of my parents uses my SSN to open a phone line, and then just stopped paying on it. I did not know of this until I was up for a job.
We all need to be protected from identity theft, but especially our children the future leaders of the nation. With the world moving to everything online identity theft is going to become more common and we need to have safeguards in place ready to combat it. The whole ordeal with Facebook is a prime example of how social media can commit identity theft without a smart or common sense approach to setting up your security preferences and how to properly use the tools. This is a step in the right direction but don't be afraid to keep evolving it s thieves will evolve their technics.