According to Internet Business Law Service, the Federal Trade Commission plans to study the experiences of identity theft victims by conducting a survey of consumers who contacted the FTC after they were victimized.

The proposed survey will examine the remedies available to victims under the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003 (FACT Act). Among other things, the FACT Act gave consumers the right to place fraud alerts on their credit files if they are, or suspect they may become, victims of identity theft; block information on their credit reports that resulted from identity theft; and obtain copies of their credit reports free of charge. The survey will seek information from identity theft victims who contacted the FTC between January 1 and May 30, 2008, and will inquire about their experiences when they contacted one or more credit reporting agencies and when they sought to use their FACT Act rights. The survey results will help guide the FTCՉ۪s efforts to enforce the law and educate consumers and the consumer reporting industry about their rights and duties.

The study is being carried out pursuant to a recommendation by the President’s Identity Theft Task Force in its Strategic Plan. Information about the Task Force is available at www.idtheft.gov.

State Sen. Ronnie Chance (R-Tyrone) has introduced Governor Sonny Perdue’s legislation to establish an identity theft task force within the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI). The Citizen reports that Perdue has included $1 million in his budget proposal to fund the task force, which will combat identity theft in many ways, including investigating alleged identity theft, educating the public, supporting victims and training local law enforcement in combating identity theft.

With Senate Bill 388, the responsibility of investigating complaints of identity fraud will be moved from the Governor’s Office of Consumer Affairs to the GBI. Along with new funding in the state budget, SB 388 will enable the GBI to add eight investigative positions to the ID Theft Task Force to combat identity theft statewide.

According to ZDNet, with only two months left before government agencies must figure out how to deal with data breaches and data theft, federal bureaucrats are scrambling to meet the impending deadline. The deadline was created by a White House directive that gave all federal agencies until September 22 to figure out the best way, using their “best judgment,” to create a plan to secure personal data and to alert them if it is compromised.

Meeting that deadline is “definitely a challenge,” says Mischel Kwon, chief IT security technologist for the U.S. Department of Justice.

The chief privacy officers for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Trade Commission say they are taking steps to comply with the White House order.

The FTC’s chief privacy officer, Marc Groman, says his agency prepared a 12-page compliance plan last month. The plan covered topics such as notifying third parties, notifying individuals and identity theft risk analysis.

To help fight identity theft, the Department of Justice has proposed legislation to the Congress to improve the existing laws. The Identity Theft Enforcement and Restitution Act of 2007, which was developed by the President’s Task Force on Identity Theft, would help ensure that victims could recover money for the time they lost in their attempts to repair the damage done by identity theft. Currently, a victim can only recover the actual monetary amount that was stolen from them.

U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said the department’s proposed legislation would help victims “put their lives back together” and close gaps in enforcement.

The Washington Post reports that the U.S. Justice Department is also trying to crack down on criminal rings that traffic in stolen documents and sell fake driver’s licenses, Social Security cards and birth certificates to illegal workers.

According to Identity Theft Daily, the President’s Identity Theft Task Force is working toward a plan to fight identity theft, and they recently introduced a new strategy. This new plan includes increasing awareness, discussing prevention options, detecting identity theft and what type of punishment will be doled out to identity thieves.

Three areas are covered in this plan to crack down on identity theft. The task force looked into how they could best inform citizens about protecting their personal data. Government safeguards are also covered under this new plan. The goal is to prevent identity theft instead of just dealing with the problem after it occurs.

The tools that are used to prevent, investigate, and prosecute identity theft crimes are also addressed in the plan. With more powerful tools, they can ensure that criminals are receiving adequate punishment.