[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 44 (Thursday, April 18, 2002)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E585-E586]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     INTRODUCTION OF SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER PROTECTION ACT OF 2002

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. EDWARD J. MARKEY

                            of massachusetts

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, April 18, 2002

  Mr. MARKEY. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased today to introduce legislation 
that would outlaw the practice of purchasing or selling Social Security 
numbers.
  A few years ago, a man named Liam Youens was stalking a 21-year-old 
New Hampshire woman named Amy Boyer. Youens reportedly purchased Amy 
Boyer's Social Security number from an Internet Web site for $45. Using 
this information, he was able to track her down, a process that he 
chillingly detailed on an Internet Web site that he named after his 
target. Finally, this demented stalker fatally shot Amy Boyer in front 
of the dental office where she worked. Afterwards, he turned the gun on 
himself.
  This terrible tragedy underscores the fact that while the Social 
Security number was originally intended to be used only for the 
purposes of collecting Social Security taxes and administering the 
program's benefits, it has over the years evolved into a ubiquitous 
national personal identification number which is subject to misuse and 
abuse. The unregulated sale and purchase of these numbers is a 
significant factor in a growing range of illegal activities, including 
fraud, identity theft, and tragically, stalkings and now, even murders.

[[Page E586]]

  Today, if you open up a bank account, apply for a loan, buy 
insurance, get a credit card, sign up for telephone service or electric 
or gas utility service, you are almost invariably asked to provide a 
merchant with your Social Security number. Over the years, this number 
has become a key to verifying a person's identity. As a result, it has 
become increasingly clear that there are growing and serious privacy 
risks being created by unrestricted commerce in Social Security 
numbers, and resulting abuses of this number, that require immediate 
legislative action.
  The risks and abuses associated with misuse of the Social Security 
number are only being magnified by the rapid growth of electronic 
commerce. Right now, only $5 billion of the $860 billion in annual 
retail sales currently occur over the Internet. But that figure will 
continue to grow exponentially in the future. So, the question we must 
ask is how are we going to adjust our laws to deal with this new 
medium? How will we animate the New Economy with our old values--such 
as our cherished right to privacy?
  Today, the real privacy challenge we are facing isn't Big Brother; 
it's Big Browser. If you buy anything over the Internet, that 
information can be linked up to other personal identifiers to create 
disturbingly detailed digital dossiers that can profile your lifestyle, 
your interests, your hobbies, or your habits. We also know that the 
Social Security number is a critically important personal identifier 
that many online and offline businesses wish to obtain about consumers. 
Consumers who value their family's privacy, however, have a compelling 
interest in not allowing this number to be used to tie together bits 
and pieces of information in various databases into an integrated 
electronic profile of their interests and behavior that can be zapped 
around the world in a nanosecond to anyone who is willing to pay the 
price.
  If you do a simple Internet search in which you enter the words 
``Social Security Numbers,'' you will turn up links to dozens of web 
sites that offer to provide you, for a fee, with social security 
numbers for other citizens, or to link a social security number that 
you might have with a name, address and telephone number. Where are the 
data mining firms and private detective agencies that offer these 
services obtaining these numbers? In all likelihood, they are accessing 
information from the databases of credit bureaus, financial services 
companies or other commercial firms.
  If someone actually obtains a Social Security number from one of 
these sites, they have a critically important piece of information that 
can be used to locate the individual, get access to information about 
the individual's personal finances, or engage in a variety of illegal 
activities. By bringing a halt to unregulated commerce in Social 
Security numbers, the bill I am introducing today will help reduce the 
incidence of pretexting crimes, identity thefts and other frauds or 
crimes involving misuse of a person's Social Security number.
  We need to take this action now if we are going to fully protect the 
public's right to privacy by preventing sales of Social Security 
numbers. That is why I am pleased today to be introducing legislation 
which would outlaw this practice. My bill would make it criminal for a 
person to sell or purchase Social Security numbers. Under the bill, the 
FTC would be given rulemaking authority to restrict the sale of Social 
Security numbers, determine appropriate exemptions, and to enforce 
civil compliance with the bill's restrictions. The bill would also 
authorize the states to enforce compliance, and provide for appropriate 
penalties.
  I look forward to working with my House colleagues to enact this 
important privacy protection proposal into law.

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