Guest Column
Safety and online shopping
By George Winner Jr.

We're told that "Cyber Monday," the Monday after the traditional, dayafter Thanksgiving Black Friday start to the holiday shopping season - long recognized as America's largest holiday shopping extravaganza - begins a flurry of on-line sales activity that, by some estimates, approaches $20 billion.

That's an enormous amount of online economic activity. It also means an unprecedented exchange of online information and compels this reminder: don't overlook the privacy and other public policy issues raised by our continuing leap into this age of modern technology.

The New York State Senate has been holding public hearings over the past few years to give creditors, law enforcement officials, computer-security experts and others the opportunity to share their thoughts on mapping out more effective strategies to address a host of privacy concerns including an issue commonly called "identity theft," the overriding concern that currently drives our caution in today's online society.

Identity theft costs American consumers an estimated $50 billion a year. New York State ranks third in the nation in reported cases of identity theft, with more than 17,000 cases reported last year. The availability of information in computer databases and the rapid growth of Internet commerce has produced a new breed of criminals who abuse new technologies to steal consumer information and ruin consumer credit. It's considered the No. 1 financial and consumer crime of this era.

The tactics of today's cybercriminals change as fast as our technology does. It all serves to highlight our ongoing challenge to keep identity theft laws ahead of identity thieves. New York became the 43rd state in the nation to enact an identity theft law in 2002. But security studies continually reveal the overriding reality: we have to update our laws as frequently as cybercriminals update their ability to break them. It's no easy task.

One new law approved during the 2006 legislative session enables consumers to place a "security freeze" on their credit reports if they suspect they are victims of identity theft. A security freeze will prevent an identity thief from taking out new loans and credit under their victim's name.

Detailed information on this new law can be found on the New York State Consumer Protection Board web site at HYPERLINK "http://www.consumer.state.ny.us/."htt p://www.consumer.state.ny.us/.

A few other new laws approved this year include the "Anti Phishing Act of 2006," to prevent cybercriminals from misrepresenting themselves as a business in order to obtain personal identifying information, and a law that mandates the proper disposal or destruction of records containing personal information.

It takes an estimated average of 14 months for an identity theft victim to discover that his or her identity has been stolen. Identity theft victims spend an average of $808 dollars and 175 hours of their time working to clean up their credit reports after an identity theft has occurred, according to the General Accounting Office. Additionally, identity theft victims have been subject to other complications, including denial of loan applications, false arrest and criminal records.

So the online shopping hype known as Cyber Monday will generate a host of headlines this holiday season, and it will also help keep raising red flags in the State Legislature. I'll look forward to getting back to work with my colleagues on additional computersecurity actions.

In the meantime, it's important for every consumer to be aware of identity theft, how it's committed and ways to protect against it. Toward this end, the Federal Trade Commission, the nation's lead consumer protection agency, and the technology industry continue to operate a web site to further promote online safety. It 's called OnGuardOnline.gov, and it provides a range of tips and information to help all of us guard against Internet fraud, better protect our personal information and secure our computers. It's worth checking out.

The writer represents the 53rd District in the New York Senate.