RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, numerous state and county agencies unnecessarily use social security numbers for recordkeeping or identification purposes; and

WHEREAS, the Social Security Administration itself will only give information about a social security number recipient to the Internal Revenue Service; and

WHEREAS, a person's social security number is the key to that person's credit and banking accounts and is a prime target of criminals engaged in identity theft; and

WHEREAS, in identity theft, the thief acquires enough personal information about a victim to establish oneself as the victim and engage in financial transactions that ruin the victim's credit and establish a criminal record in the victim's identity; and

WHEREAS, the continued governmental use of social security numbers for recordkeeping and other purposes is often unnecessary and unresponsive to the threat of this growing crime; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-second Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2003, the Senate concurring, that the Legislative Reference Bureau is respectfully requested to study the validity of using social security numbers for government purposes; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Legislative Reference Bureau is requested to submit its findings and recommendations to the Legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2004; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a certified copy of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Director of the Legislative Reference Bureau.

Report Title:

LRB study; SSN