06 LC 21
8552
House
Bill 966
By:
Representatives Teilhet of the
40th,
Jacobs of the
80th,
Johnson of the
37th,
Barnard of the
166th,
and Manning of the
32nd
A
BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
AN ACT
To
amend Article 34 of Chapter 1 of Title 10 of the Official Code of Georgia
Annotated, relating to identity theft, so as to define certain terms; to provide
that a person may place a security freeze on his or her credit report by
notifying the credit reporting agencies; to provide for procedures; to provide
for a temporary or permanent lifting of such freeze; to provide for fees; to
provide for related matters; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other
purposes.
BE
IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:
SECTION
1.
Article
34 of Chapter 1 of Title 10 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating
to identity theft, is amended by inserting at the end thereof the
following:
∀10-1-913.
(a)
As used in this Code section, the term:
(1)
'Consumer reporting agency' means any person that, for monetary fees, dues, or
on a cooperative nonprofit basis, regularly engages in whole or in part in the
practice of assembling or evaluating consumer credit information or other
information on consumers for the purpose of furnishing consumer reports to third
parties.
(2)
'Credit information' shall mean any credit related information derived from a
credit report or found on a credit report utilized by an insurer or used by an
insurer to calculate an insurance score for personal insurance. Information
that is not credit related shall not be considered credit information,
regardless of whether it is contained in a credit report or in an application or
is used to calculate an insurance score.
(3)
'Credit report' shall mean any written, oral, or other communication of
information by a consumer reporting agency bearing on a
consumeŕs
credit worthiness, credit standing, or credit capacity which is used or expected
to be used or collected in whole or in part for the purpose of serving as a
factor to determine personal insurance premiums, eligibility for coverage, or
tier placement.
(4)
'Security freeze' means a notice placed in a
consumeŕs
credit report that prohibits the consumer credit reporting agency from releasing
the
consumeŕs
credit report or any information from it without the express authorization of
the consumer.
(b)
A consumer may elect to place a security freeze on his or her credit report by
making a request in writing by certified mail to a consumer credit reporting
agency. A consumer credit reporting agency shall place a security freeze on a
consumeŕs
credit report no later than five business days after receiving a written request
from the consumer. The consumer credit reporting agency shall send a written
confirmation of the security freeze to the consumer within ten business days and
shall provide the consumer with a unique personal identification number or
password to be used by the consumer when providing authorization for the release
of his or her credit for a specific party or period of time.
(c)
If a security freeze is in place, a consumer reporting agency shall not release
credit information from a
consumeŕs
credit report to a third party without prior express authorization from the
consumer; provided, however, that a consumer credit reporting agency may advise
a third party that a security freeze is in effect with respect to the
consumeŕs
credit report.
(d)
If the consumer wishes to allow his or her credit report to be accessed for a
specific party or period of time while a freeze is in place, he or she shall
contact the consumer credit reporting agency, request that the freeze be
temporarily lifted, and provide the following:
(1)
Proper identification;
(2)
The unique personal identification number or password provided by the credit
reporting agency pursuant to subsection (b) of this Code section;
and
(3)
The proper information regarding the third party who is to receive the credit
report or the time period for which the report shall be available to users of
the credit report.
(e)
A consumer credit reporting agency that receives a request from a consumer to
temporarily lift a freeze on a credit report pursuant to subsection (d) of this
Code section shall comply with the request no later than three business days
after receiving the request.
(f)
A consumer credit reporting agency may develop procedures involving the use of
telephone, fax, the Internet, or other electronic media to receive and process a
request from a consumer to temporarily lift a freeze on a credit report pursuant
to subsection (d) of this Code section in an expedited manner.
(g)
A consumer credit reporting agency shall remove or temporarily lift a freeze
placed on a
consumeŕs
credit report only in the following cases:
(1)
Upon consumer request, pursuant to subsection (d) of this Code section;
or
(2)
If the
consumeŕs
credit report was frozen due to a material misrepresentation of fact by the
consumer. If a consumer credit reporting agency intends to remove a freeze upon
a
consumeŕs
credit report pursuant to this paragraph, the consumer credit reporting agency
shall notify the consumer in writing prior to removing the freeze on the
consumeŕs
credit report.
(h)
If a third party requests access to a consumer credit report on which a security
freeze is in effect and this request is in connection with an application for
credit or any other use and the consumer does not allow his or her credit report
to be accessed for that specific party or period of time, the third party may
treat the application as incomplete.
(i)
If a consumer requests a security freeze, the consumer credit reporting agency
shall disclose the process of placing and temporarily lifting a freeze and the
process for allowing access to information from the
consumeŕs
credit report for a specific party or period of time while the freeze is in
place.
(j)
A security freeze shall remain in place until the consumer requests that the
security freeze be removed. A consumer credit reporting agency shall remove a
security freeze within three business days of receiving a request for removal
from the consumer who provides both of the following:
(1)
Proper identification; and
(2)
The unique personal identification number or password provided by the credit
reporting agency pursuant to subsection (d) of this Code section.
(k)
A consumer reporting agency may charge a fee of no more than $10.00 to a
consumer for each freeze, removal of the freeze, or temporary lift of the freeze
for a period of time, or a fee of no more than $12.00 for a temporary lift of a
freeze for a specific party, regarding access to a consumer credit report,
except that a consumer credit reporting agency may not charge a fee to a victim
of identity theft who has submitted a valid police report that alleges the
offense of identity fraud pursuant to Article 8 of Chapter 9 of Title
16.∀
SECTION
2.
All
laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.