AARP Maine issued a press release praising the Maine Legislature for overriding Gov. Paul LePage’s veto of L.D. 382, which, once enacted, provides free protection against identity theft for Mainers. Identity theft can have long-term, devastating consequences. The Federal Trade Commission estimates that in 2013 alone, there were more than 500 identity theft complaints in Maine.
According to the AARP Maine press release, thanks to the veto override, the current fees to place or remove a security freeze on credit reports are now eliminated. Because a security freeze safeguards a person’s credit report, it is one of the most effective ways to protect consumers from identity theft. Without access to this sensitive information, an identity thief is unable to obtain credit in that person’s name, thereby greatly minimizing the potential damage from the theft.
Once the freeze is in place, consumers have control over who can receive their credit report. Maine consumers are able to freeze and unfreeze their credit reports as needed through a Personal Identification Number (PIN) at no cost.
Maine is now one of only three states in the nation to offer this credit protection for free.
According to the press release, in addition to ensuring that all Mainers can protect their identity at no cost, the new law provides protection to Maine’s businesses and financial institutions, which have to suffer the financial losses caused by identity theft. According to the Maine Crime Victimization Report, identity theft is the most frequently committed crime in Maine. Maine Identity Services, LLC, estimates that recent breaches of large retailers have affected almost 750,000 Mainers, or 57 percent of the population.
In the AARP press release, Jane Carpenter, founder of Maine Identity Services, whose committee testimony supported the security freeze being free for all Mainers, expressed gratitude to AARP Maine for their leadership in creating the new law.
“More than half of our state’s population has been affected by data breaches and is at risk to become victims of identity theft. Businesses – small businesses in particular – shoulder $54 billion in costs from identity theft each year, according to the U.S. Small Business Administration, and we know that security freezes can help stop identity theft. This new law removes financial barriers for placing a security freeze so that individuals, children and Maine’s 33,000 small businesses and financial institutions can hopefully avoid the costs of fraudulent transactions from identity theft. And it does so at no additional cost to taxpayers or to government,” she said in the press release.
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