File No. 147

House of Representatives, March 25, 2008

The Committee on General Law reported through REP. STONE of the 9th Dist., Chairperson of the Committee on the part of the House, that the substitute bill ought to pass.

AN ACT CONCERNING IDENTITY THEFT.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:

Section 1. (NEW) (Effective from passage) If a state governmental agency, person or business intentionally or negligently loses or discloses an individual's personal identifying information and such loss or disclosure results in such individual's identity being stolen, such governmental agency, person or business shall be responsible for the cost of providing not less than two years of commercially available identity theft monitoring and protection for such individual, plus all costs and fees incurred by such individual to restore such individual's identity.

The following fiscal impact statement and bill analysis are prepared for the benefit of members of the General Assembly, solely for the purpose of information, summarization, and explanation, and do not represent the intent of the General Assembly or either chamber thereof for any purpose:

OFA Fiscal Note

State Impact:

Note: GF=General Fund

Municipal Impact: None

Explanation

The bill results in a potential cost to all state agencies. The cost would be due to any claims due the disclosure of personal identification. The per year cost of identity theft monitoring and protection for individuals is approximately $180.

The Out Years

The annualized ongoing fiscal impact identified above would continue into the future subject to inflation.



OLR Bill Analysis

sHB 5760

AN ACT CONCERNING IDENTITY THEFT.

SUMMARY:

This bill makes a state agency, person, or business that intentionally or negligently loses or discloses an individual's personal identifying information that results in such individual's identity being stolen responsible for the cost of providing at least two years of commercially available identity theft monitoring and protection for the individual, plus all costs and fees incurred to restore such individual's identity.

EFFECTIVE DATE: Upon passage

BACKGROUND

Definition of Personal Identifying Information

Although the bill does not define “personal identifying information,” the law making identity theft a crime defines it as any name, number, or other information that may be used, alone or in conjunction with any other information, to identify a specific individual including, the individual's name, date of birth, mother's maiden name, motor vehicle operator's license number, Social Security number, employee identification number, employer or taxpayer identification number, alien registration number, government passport number, health insurance identification number, demand deposit account number, savings account number, credit card number, debit card number, or unique biometric data such as fingerprint, voice print, retina or iris image, or other unique physical representation (CGS § 53a-129a).

COMMITTEE ACTION

General Law Committee

Joint Favorable Substitute