There’s been some discussion in the past about what to do about child ID theft. ITRC had one idea, Adam Shostack had another, and a third commenter didn’t think ITRC’s suggestion was necessary or practical.
A Utah legislator has a slightly different approach. Rep. Eric Hutchings, R-Kearns is proposing a state bill to prevent child ID theft. Heidi Toth reports:
His bill, the child identity theft protection amendments bill that the Legislature will consider this session, makes some changes to a system that allows parents or guardians to both open and lock credit as soon as a child receives a Social Security number.
[…]
He worked with assistant attorney general Richard Hamp and the credit bureaus to create a way through which parents or guardians could submit a child’s name and Social Security number, have it validated by the state, after which the credit bureaus would open an account in that name that the parent could then lock. This way, if someone used that Social Security number in an attempt to get credit, he would be denied.
[…]
Ron Mortensen, the founder of the Utah Minuteman Project who has been active in trying to combat identity theft, said this system would be beneficial in the aspect of children’s credit being stolen, although it wouldn’t affect other kinds of identity theft that come from a person’s Social Security number being hacked.
“I appreciate what Rep. Hutchings is doing, but it’s only a finger in the dyke,” he said. “It’s not going to stop the problem.”
Read more on The Daily Herald.