U.S. Identity Theft Protection Act

by Amanda Mack

Overview

Representative Ron Paul (R., Texas) presented the Identity Theft Prevention Act of 2009 to Congress on Jan. 6, 2009. The intention of the bill, which has yet to be approved, is to amend part of the Social Security Act and the Internal Revenue Code to prohibit using a Social Security account number except for specified Social Security and tax purposes, according to a Congressional Research Service summary.
Purpose

The general purpose of the proposed legislation is to take steps to protect the use of personal information for all American citizens by amending parts of the Social Security Act and the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.

Committee

As of December 2009, bill is being reviewed by both the House Ways and Means Committee under Rep. Charles Rangel (D., N.Y.) and the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee under Rep. Edolphus Towns (D., N.Y.).
Social Security Number

The bill proposes significant changes to the use of Social Security numbers to include abolishing using numbers entirely except for tax and Social Security benefits purposes. Further, the new act would prohibit the government from giving Social Security account numbers to any federal, state, or local governmental agency for any purpose.
Identification Procedures

Additionally, the bill proposes new identification procedures in lieu of agencies that previously used Social Security numbers for identification. Primarily, agencies will no longer be able to assign a uniform number to be used for identification purposes across more than once governmental agency.
Effective Date

In its current form, the provisions of the new act are set to take effect on Jan. 1, 2010; however, there is no mention of approvals in either the House or the Senate yet.