Research Guides

Identity Theft - Research Guide

by Deborah Showalter-Johnson, Branch Librarian, Kansas City

Introduction | Statutes | Regulations | Agencies

Treatises (print) | CALR Databases | Law Reviews | Blogs & News | Related Resources

Introduction

Legislation to solve the problem of Identity Theft seeks to protect individual privacy by securing the rights of individuals to control personal information. The legislation usually addresses disclosure of information practices and collection practices; requires opt-out opportunities and internal protections of collected information. Because Identity Theft and Fraud can create individual problems and commercial problems, statute law may come from more than one area and jurisdiction.

The Federal Trade Commission indicates Identity Theft has become one of the most frequent consumer complaints. The impact of fraud and Identity Theft on Consumers can be significant. Governments collect a consequential amount of information and most of this type of data is stored in digital format.

In addition, consumer use of the internet leaves open the possibility that information from personal computers can be collected via “cookies” or “spy ware” installed during internet use on individual computers. Although the commercial companies and organizations that install these programs may not use the data, they could market the information to third parties that, in turn, may use the information inappropriately. Therefore, government agencies, Congress and the States have experienced a push to counter the treats of Fraud and Identity Theft made more complicated by the free flow of personal information through the internet.

Statutes

            Federal:

Please note that you can search USCA & USC on Westlaw.com and USCS on Lexis.com (Library: Codes; File: USCS)

            Identity Theft Assumption and Deterrence Act.

            Direct links: 18 USC 1028 (LII), Findlaw , GPO  

            18 USC 1028(a)(1) and (2)

            18 USC 1028(a)(7)

            18 USC 1028(b)

            18 USC 1028(b)(1)(D)

            18 USC 1028(b)(2)

            18 USC 1028(b)(3)

            18 USC 1028(b)(4)

            18 USC 1028(c)

            18 USC 1028(d)(2)

            Fair Credit Reporting Act.

            Direct links: 15 USC 1681 et seq. (LII), Findlaw, GPO

            15 USC 1681(b)

            15 USC 1681e(b)

            15 USC 1681n

            15 USC 1681o

            15 USC 1681p

            Fair Credit Billing Act.

            Direct Links: 15 USC 1601(a) (LII), Findlaw, GPO

            Direct Links: 15 USC 1666(a) and (b) and (c) (LII), Findlaw, GPO

            Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003

            Direct Links: 15 USC 1681 et seq. (LII), Findlaw, GPO

            15 USC 1681a(q)(3)

            15 USC 1681c(g)

            15 USC 1681g(a)(1)

            15 USC 1681g(d)

            15 USC 1681m(e)

            15 USC 1681m(g)

            15 USC 1681p

            15 USC 1681s(f)

            15 USC 1681s-2(a)(6)

            Fair Debt Collection Practices Act

Direct Links: 15 USC 1692 et seq.-especially beginning at 1692b (LII), Findlaw, GPO

            Truth in Lending Act

            Direct Links: 15 UC 1601 et seq.et seq. (LII), Findlaw, GPO

            Electronic Fund Transfer Act.

            Direct Links: 15 USC 1693 et seq. (LII), Findlaw, GPO

            15 USC 1693(b)

            15 USC 1693f(a)

            15 USC 1693f(b)

            15 USC 1693g(a)

            Social Security Number Confidentiality Act of 2000

            Direct Links: 31 USC 3327 et seq. (LII), Findlaw, GPO

            Social Security Confidentiality

            Direct Links: 42 USC 405(c)(2)(C)(viii) et seq. (LII), Findlaw, GPO

            Direct Links: 42 USC 408(a)(7)-(8) et seq. (LII), Findlaw, GPO

            Driver’s Privacy Protection Act of 1994

            Direct Links: 18 USC 2721 through 2725 (LII), Findlaw, GPO

            Family Educational & Privacy Act of 1974

            Direct Links: 20 USC 1232g (LII), Findlaw, GPO

            Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act of 1999

            (Disclosure of non-public personal information)

            Direct Links: 15 USC 6801 through 6809 (LII), Findlaw, GPO

            Health Insurance Portability & Accountability Ace of 1996

            Direct Links: 42 USC 1320d-2 (LII), Findlaw, GPO

            Financial Information gained in a fraudulent manner

            Direct Links: 15 USC 6821 through 6827 (LII), Findlaw, GPO

            For current Federal legislative endeavors go to: http://thomas.loc.gov/

State:

8^th Circuit States only); Database identifiers are listed for state codes as well as annotated codes.

            Arkansas                  Lexis.com: ARCD 

                                              Westlaw.com: AR-ST-ANN, AR-ST

                                              State web site: Ark.Code Ann. § 5-37-226

            Iowa                           Lexis.com: IACD 

                                               Westlaw.com: IA-ST-ANN, IS-ST

                                               State web site: Code

                                               Specific §§: Confidential or Privileged Information §22.7

                                               Driver’s Licenses & ID Cards §321.216A

                                               Fraud, Electronic Records or Signatures §554D.121

                                               Identity & Identification

                                                            Crimes & Offenses §554D.122

                                                            Security §554D.110

                                                            Transferable Records §554D.117

            Minnesota                  Lexis.com: MNCD 

                                                Westlaw.com: MN-ST-ANN, MN-ST 

                                                State web site: Code

                                                False ID to police §609.506

                                                Alteration or Obliteration §609.52

                                                Crimes & Offenses; Reports, Identity Theft §609.527

                                                Driver’s Licenses & ID Cards §609.652

                                                Electronic Transactions §626.18

            Missouri                     Lexis.com: MOCD 

                                                Westlaw.com: MO-ST-ANN, MO-ST

                                                State web site: Code

                                                Venue for Actions §506.290.1

                                                ID Theft Penalty §570.223.1

                                                Trafficking in Stolen Identification §570.224

                                                Offenses, where prosecuted §541.033.1 – 2.

            Nebraska                   Lexis.com: NECD 

                                               Westlaw.com: NE-ST-ANN, NE-ST

                                                State web site: Code

            North Dakota            Lexis.com: NDCD 

                                               Westlaw.com: ND-ST-ANN, ND-ST

                                               State web site: Code

            South Dakota            Lexis.com: SDCD 

                                               Westlaw.com: SD-ST-ANN, SD-ST

                                               State web site: Code

                                               See headings under “Theft” §22.30A 

United States Code; KF61 .A2;

Located in all 8th Circuit libraries.

Available online at House of Reps., LII, Findlaw, GPO, Westlaw: USC .

United States Code Annotated (USCA); KF 62.5 .W45;

Located in all 8th Circuit libraries.

            Available on Westlaw at USCA .

United States Code Service (USCS); KF62 .L38;

Located in St. Louis, Fargo, Kansas City, Little Rock, Minneapolis, Omaha, and St. Paul. Available on Lexis at GENFED;USCS .

Regulations

Code of Federal Regulations; KR 70 .A3;

Located in all 8th Circuit libraries.

Available online : GPOAccess, GPO’s eCFR, LII, Westlaw: CFR, Lexis: GENFED;CFR .

            12 CFR - specific references below: 

            Equal Credit Opportunity Act

            12 CFR 202 

            Truth in Lending

            12 CFR 226

            Liability of Holder of Credit Card

            12 CFR 226

            12 CFR 226.12(b)

            Fair Credit Billing Act.

            12 CFR 226.13(a)

            12 CFR 226.13(d)(1)

            12 CFR 226.13(e)

            Electronic Fund Transfer Act

            12 CFR 205.6(b)(1)

            12 CFR 205.11(b) and (c)

            Privacy of Consumer Financial Information

            12 CFR 40

            12 CFR 216  

            12 CFR 332

            12 CFR 573

            12 CFR 716

            16 CFR 313

            17 CFR 160

            17 CFR 248

            Standards for Safeguarding Customer Information

            16 CFR 314

            Privacy Act

            31 CFR 1 Subpart C 

            Privacy Act Rules

            16 CFR 4

            16 CFR 4.13

            Fair Credit Reporting Act

            16 CFR 600 

            Exemption of Records System Under the Privacy Act

            28 CFR 16

Code of Federal Regulations; KR 70 .A3; Located in all libraries. Available online : GPOAccess, GPO’s eCFR, LII, Westlaw: CFR, Lexis: GENFED;CFR .

Agencies and Related Offices + Forms

Federal Trade Commission“...the FTC enforces federal consumer protection laws that prevent fraud, deception and unfair business practices. The Commission also enforces federal antitrust laws that prohibit anticompetitive mergers and other business practices that restrict competition and harm consumers. Whether combating telemarketing fraud, Internet scams or price-fixing schemes, the FTC’s primary mission is to protect consumers.” The FTC is Your National Resource for Identity Theft http://www.consumer.gov/idtheft/

The Federal Trade Commission publishes several helpful documents (some including forms):

If you think your identity has been stolen, here's what to do now: http://www.consumer.gov/idtheft/

Consumer Information Page: http://www.consumer.gov/idtheft/consumertopics_bk.html

Identity Theft: What’s it all about? http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/credit/idtheftmini.pdf

Take Charge: Fighting Back Against Identity Theft

(formerly: "ID Theft: When Bad Things Happen to Your Good Name"): http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/credit/idtheft.htm

ID Affidavit and Instructions for completing the form: http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/credit/affidavit.pdf

Identity Theft: Complaint Input Form: https://rn.ftc.gov/pls/dod/widtpubl$.startup?Z_ORG_CODE=PU03

ID Theft Statistics: http://www.consumer.gov/idtheft/stats.html

Curbing Identity Theft: http://www.consumer.gov/idtheft/business_curbidt.html

How not to get hooked by a phishing scam: http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/alerts/phishingalrt.htm

Department of Justice - http://www.usdoj.gov/criminal/

The Criminal Division develops, enforces, and supervises the application of all federal criminal laws except those specifically assigned to other divisions.

DOJ Identity Theft and Fraud Information Page: http://www.usdoj.gov/criminal/fraud/idtheft.html

DOJ Criminal Division, Fraud section: http://www.usdoj.gov/criminal/fraud.html

DOJ Internet Fraud: http://www.usdoj.gov/criminal/fraud/Internet.htm 

DOJ Phishing: http://www.usdoj.gov/criminal/fraud/Phishing.pdf

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation - http://www.fdic.gov

An independent agency created by Congress in 1933, the FDIC supervises banks, insures deposits up to $100,000 and helps maintain a stable and sound banking system.

FDIC Consumer News - Summer 2000 “When a Criminal's Cover Is Your Identity” http://www.fdic.gov/consumers/consumer/news/cnsum00/idthft.html

You Can Fight Identity Theft:

http://www.fdic.gov/news/news/press/2004/pr9304b.pdf

http://www.fdic.gov/news/news/press/2004/pr9304a.pdf

Putting an End to Account-Hijacking Identity Theft: http://www.fdic.gov/consumers/consumer/idtheftstudy/

Identity Theft, Fraud and You: http://www.scfederal.org/IDTheft/info.html

United States Secret Service – Financial Crimes Division

The Secret Service investigates crimes associated with financial institutions. Today, this jurisdiction includes bank fraud, access device fraud involving credit and debit cards, telecommunications and computer crimes, fraudulent identification, fraudulent government and commercial securities, and electronic funds transfer fraud.

http://www.treas.gov/usss/financial_crimes.shtml 

Federal Bureau of Investigation

Internet Fraud Complaint Center - http://www.ifccfbi.gov/index.htm

The Internet Fraud Complaint Center (IFCC) is a partnership between the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the National White Collar Crime Center (NW3C). IFCC's mission is to address fraud committed over the Internet.

Congressional Research Service - http://2act.org/p/576.html ; for reports not listed go to  http://www.opencrs.com/ .

The Congressional Research Service (CRS) is the public policy research arm of the US Congress. With its $80 million budget and 800 employees, it issues about 3,000 briefs, reports, short issue papers and longer position papers per year

CRS documents related to Identity Theft include:

CRS Report: Federal Trade Commission Overview of the Identity Theft Program: http://www.ftc.gov/os/2003/09/timelinereport.pdf

CRS Report: Internet Privacy; Overview and Pending Legislation 7/6/04: http://fpc.state.gov/documents/organization/35133.pdf

CRS Report: Data Mining: an Overview: http://www.ipmall.info/hosted_resources/crs/RL31798_041216.pdf             

CRS Report: Remedies available to Victims of Identity theft:

http://lugar.senate.gov/CRS%20reports/Identity_theft_remedies.pdf

CRS Report: Identity Theft and the Fair Credit Reporting Act; an analysis of TRW v. Andrews and Current Legislation 2/27/03: http://www.bna.com/webwatch/identitytheft.pdf

Treatises

Identity Theft and Privacy Bibliography of Eighth Circuit Holdings

For more titles covering aspects of privacy, identity theft and information law go to WEBCat.

CALR Databases

Law Reviews/Journals

            Yale Journal of Law & Technology (YjoLT) an Online Serial

            http://research.yale.edu/lawmeme/yjolt/.?

Blogs & Newsletters

            Fraudwatch International Website: Australian Website

            http://www.fraudwatchinternational.com/idtheft/victim.htm

            The Privacy Place blog - from North Carolina State University

CALPIRG blog - from the California Public Interest Research Group; their section on ID Theft.

            Privacy Spot blog - from a Texas law firm

Related Sites and Resources

            9^th Circ. Pathfinder http://library.lb9.circ9.dcn/documents/ID_theft.pdf 

            Privacy Rights Clearing House http://www.privacyrights.org/identity.htm 

            Identity Web - from the University of Michigan

            Anti-Phishing Working Group - tracks recent news about phishing scams

            Center for IT and Privacy Law - John Marshall School of Law

LLRX.com is a unique, free Web journal dedicated to providing legal, library, IT/IS, marketing and administrative professionals with the most up-to-date information on a wide range of Internet research and technology-related issues, applications, resources and tools, since 1996. At LLRX see:

Identity Theft: A Bibliography of Federal, State, Consumer and News Resources by Sabrina I. Pacifici at http://www.llrx.com/features/idtheft.htm