Attorney General Frosh Signs Multistate Letter Supporting Continuation and Strengthening of FTC Identity Theft Rules

BALTIMORE, MD – Maryland Attorney General Brian E. Frosh joined 30 other state attorneys general in a letter sent to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) today urging the FTC to continue its Identity Theft Rules, originally adopted in November 2007. The letter cites the proliferation of identity theft in many states, and the growth in technology since the rules were adopted.

The current rules require certain financial institutions and businesses that grant credit or issue debit or credit cards to take steps to detect, prevent, and mitigate identity theft by implementing reasonable safeguards. In addition to the continuation of these Rules, the attorneys general suggest certain modifications to ensure they continue to be relevant and in keeping with technological trends.

The proposed Rules modifications include adding a requirement that cardholders must be notified by old and new email or cell phone number if one of these identifying factors is changed, in addition to the existing requirement to mail notification upon change of account address. Additional suggested modifications include adding account access by new and previously unknown devices and repeated unsuccessful access attempts to a list of examples of suspicious account activity.

“There have been hundreds of millions of personal data records lost or stolen due to data breaches over the last ten years,” said Attorney General Frosh. “Now is not the time to roll back identity theft protections. Consumers deserve more protection, not less.”

The letter was also signed by Attorneys General of Alaska, California, Colorado, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico, Nevada, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin.

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~ Maryland Attorney General