Originally published June 25 2005
United States could learn something from data and privacy protection laws abroad
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
A recent Business Week article says that, although their restrictions couldn't be directly applicable, other countries have some privacy theft laws that could help prevent identity theft here.
As U.S. lawmakers mull how to cure the blight of identity theft, privacy advocates suggest they look overseas, where tighter controls on personal data and credit cards make such fraud far less common.
Few experts believe other nations' data privacy laws are directly applicable to the United States, partly because the U.S. economy is greased by the convenience and efficiency of a detailed credit-reporting system.
Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., who is pushing a broad bill aimed at impeding the crime.
"The major European countries are doing more than we are doing, and somebody can feel safer about giving information about themselves there than in America."
One such difference: Many countries don't use anything like Social Security numbers as universal identifiers, which serve as pass keys for criminals opening fraudulent accounts.
Comparable figures for other countries are difficult to obtain because of differing standards in how the crime is tabulated, defined and reported.
Among its wide protections, the directive requires that EU citizens be consulted about transfers of their personal information to third parties and given the chance to correct erroneous data.
Surveys indicate that as many as 9 percent of Canadians have been victimized by ID theft, with 3 percent of the population hit in 2003 alone, according to Susan Gardiner, senior policy analyst at Industry Canada.
Such transparency is limited in the United States, where many consumers didn't even know about big data brokers such as ChoicePoint and Lexis-Nexis until the companies disclosed in recent months that dangerous information breaches had occurred.
One bill would require companies to inform consumers if their personal information were compromised.
Bill Nelson, D-Fla., would treat personal data dossiers like credit reports, since consumers are allowed to regularly see and correct those files and know who has accessed them.
All content posted on this site is commentary or opinion and is protected under Free Speech. Truth Publishing LLC takes sole responsibility for all content. Truth Publishing sells no hard products and earns no money from the recommendation of products. NaturalNews.com is presented for educational and commentary purposes only and should not be construed as professional advice from any licensed practitioner. Truth Publishing assumes no responsibility for the use or misuse of this material. For the full terms of usage of this material, visit www.NaturalNews.com/terms.shtml