FTC Consumer Data Collection - Part II

In searching today for the person I wanted to speak with at the FTC about the current state of their consumer ID theft reporting process, I came across the following testimony to Congress from approximately ten days ago, March 22, 2007:

The Federal Trade Commission today told the Senate Judiciary Committee Subcommittee on Terrorism, Technology, and Homeland Security that “the government and the private sector must continue to work together to reduce the opportunities for thieves to obtain consumers’ personal information and make it more difficult for thieves to misuse that information if they obtain it.”

Lydia Parnes, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, said government and the business community should evaluate whether they need to collect and maintain the data they have about consumers, better-protect the data that they do possess, and develop better ways to authenticate customers to keep identity thieves from using the information they steal.

Amen - see my earlier post re the FTC's own information-gathering process. I thought the following testimony was also relevant to Consumer Protection (and our economy):

According to the testimony, “A recent Wall Street Journal/Harris Interactive survey, for example, found that, as a result of fears about protecting their identities, 30 percent of consumers polled were limiting their online purchases, and 24 percent were cutting back on their online banking.”