The Safest Places To Live: Privacy Protection

California lawmakers have made it a priority to protect citizens’ personal information. Upon seeing the lack-luster job the federal government was doing in keeping individual financial information safe the state came up with tough privacy protection laws.

Moreover, they are not the only state to so. California leads a list of the top states for privacy protection that includes Connecticut, Illinois, Florida, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New York, Washington, and Wisconsin.

The federal government has made some strides toward protecting the privacy of citizens, experts say. Personal information in federal files is protected and has rarely been breached. They have instituted the popular ‘Do Not Call’ registry that keeps telemarketers from calling and they have implemented strict medical records protection. However, experts agree that congress faces pressure from businesses wanting information and states have a better chance of protecting citizens.

An innovative California law restricts the way a business can use a person’s social security number. In most states this number and a matching name can get a person instant credit. The new California law does not allow the public posting of social security numbers nor does it allow the printing of the number on ID cards. In addition, social security numbers cannot be sent through the mail except when required by law and cannot be transmitted over the internet unless they pass through an encryption program.

The same California law that restricts the way a business can use a person’s social security number also allows residents to freeze their credit reports. Across the nation Americans have the option of asking that a fraud alert be placed on their credit report if they fear someone is using their information to apply for credit. Unfortunately, most lenders ignore the fraud alert.

Californians can go a step farther and freeze their credit reports if they fear identity theft. This freeze keeps lenders from any access to the credit report. Without access, the lender does not have the ability to grant credit.

In Georgia and California businesses cannot dispose of any paperwork or records with personal information if it has not been shredded or erased. This same rule is becoming the norm in other states as well. In Wisconsin medical records or any information containing a social security number or credit card number must be shredded or erased.

Another California law has the potential to protect citizens across the nation. Companies both inside and outside of California must notify customers in the state if hackers or company employees hijack their personal information. Experts hope that these companies will begin to report these crimes to customers nationwide. Until then, Californians can let the nation know when a hacker is on the loose.

Rhode Island protects the intellectual rights of its citizens. The state has a law in place stating that library records are not public and it is against the law to reveal any information found in these records. Names, addresses, books borrowed, and overdue books cannot be given out as public information.

The Bill of Rights does not protect personal privacy. So far, 12 states have stepped up and made major changes in their constitutions to ensure the personal protection of their citizens from identity theft and privacy issues. Alaska states in its constitution that ‘…rights of the people to privacy are recognized and shall not be infringed.’