Bill imposes heavy penalties on identity thieves

By Gil C. Cabacungan Jr. - Inquirer

MANILA--The Senate is moving to crack down on identity thieves by imposing harsher penalties against violators, and pressing banks, credit card firms and government institutions to be more stringent in protecting the privacy of their data bases.

Sen. Loren Legarda has filed Senate Bill 1371 bill which seeks to penalize the rapidly emerging crime of identity theft where an individual’s personal information is stolen and used without his or her knowledge to commit fraud.

Legarda’s bill aims to compel firms that handle a great deal of restricted personal information, such as banks and credit card issuers, to build in more adequate precautions to parry identity thieves.

"Based on the zones of privacy established by the Bill of Rights, every person clearly enjoys the right to be let alone, or the right to determine what, how much, to whom and when information about himself/herself may be disclosed," Legarda stressed.

"Congress must now safeguard the right to privacy, which has become vulnerable to invasion and manipulation by corrupt individuals and entities that take advantage of new technology, including the spread of electronic databases," she said.

The bill has classified as "sensitive personal information" an individual's first name and surname in combination with other details, such as those that relate to, but not limited to, an individual's financial account, credit standing, health condition, and family tree.

The most common kinds of identity theft are diversion of pension checks; getting credit from card issuers; and making false insurance claims.

Under Legarda's bill, identity thieves would be punished with up to 10 years in prison, or a fine of as much as P500,000, or both. The same penalty would apply to persons or the officers and directors of firms that "misappropriate" sensitive personal information.

The bill does not only cover private firms, but also public institutions with large repositories of personal data, such as the Social Security System, Government Service Insurance System, the Passport Office and the Land Transportation Office.