Bills
| 3.23.22

Protecting Kids From Identity Theft by Making ID Verification More Efficient (H.R. 5192)

Do you support or oppose this bill?

What is H.R. 5192?

(Updated July 30, 2018)

This bill — the Protecting Children from Identity Theft Act — would aim to prevent children’s identity from being stolen by a type of theft known as “synthetic ID fraud”. It would require the Social Security Administration (SSA) to accept electronic signatures as consumer consent for financial institutions trying to verify customer ID and make the system more efficient, as firms currently may seek verification one name and Social Security at a time, or up to 10 at a time.

The SSA Commissioner wouldn’t be allowed to start developing the new verification system until it’s determined that at least 50 percent of the new system’s start-up costs have been covered by users (ie financial institutions). If the SSA temporarily uses IT modernization funding to cover costs, those would have to be fully recouped through user fees. After initial development, users would be obligated to pay for ongoing associated costs through advances, reimbursements, user fees, or other methods of recovery determined by the SSA Commissioner.

Argument in favor

This commonsense, bipartisan bill would help prevent identity theft from harming the financial histories of children by making the process of ID verification more efficient.

Argument opposed

While more needs to be done to prevent identity theft, especially as it relates to children, this bill alone won’t do enough to make a difference.

Impact

Children; financial institutions; and the SSA.

Cost of H.R. 5192

A CBO cost estimate is unavailable.

Additional Info

In-Depth: Sponsoring Rep. Carlos Curbelo (R-FL) introduced this bill to prevent “synthetic ID fraud” which affects children by making the ID verification process more efficient:

“Unfortunately South Florida is all too familiar with the lengths at which fraudsters will go through to steal an identity. But the fact that children’s identities and personal information are being exploited at such alarmed rates cannot continue to go unaddressed. We need to ensure that fraud detection is modernized to stop these crimes from continuing to negatively impact American families. This legislation is an effective bipartisan solution that would limit synthetic ID fraud and help protect millions of identities from being stolen.”

Original cosponsor Rep. Krysten Sinema (D-AZ) added:

“No child should ever fall victim to financial crime or identity fraud. Targeting our kids and running up massive debts in their names is shameful and cowardly, and we must fight back to ensure they have the chance to build their own futures. Our fix modernizes federal fraud detection to stop these criminals and protect Arizona kids by improving screening for financial transactions. Every Arizonan deserves financial peace of mind, which is why we’ll keep working across the aisle to pass this commonsense bill.”

This legislation passed the House Ways and Means Committee on a voice vote and has the support of 14 bipartisan cosponsors, including 10 Republicans and four Democrats.


Media:

Summary by Eric Revell

(Photo Credit: BYoungJoo / iStock)