Senate Bill S4186

                                 BILL NUMBER:  S4186

 TITLE OF BILL :

An act to amend the public officers law, in relation to limiting the
use of social security numbers for identification of employees


 PURPOSE :

The purpose of this bill is to combat the unauthorized use of social
security numbers and prevent identity theft by limiting the use of
social security numbers as a means of employee identification.

 SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS :

Section one of this bill would prohibit agencies from using Social
Security numbers as a means of identifying employees unless
specifically authorized or required by law. In addition, this bill
would require agencies to:

* notify employees, in writing, if disclosure of a Social Security
number is mandatory or voluntary;

* advise employees, when a Social Security number is voluntarily
disclosed, of the uses of such number;
              

* advise employees, when a Social Security number is mandated to be
disclosed, of the statute or authority for which the number is
required, as well as the uses of such number.

 EFFECTS OF PRESENT LAW WHICH THIS BILL WOULD ALTER :

Under current law, New York State is not prohibited from using Social
Security numbers (SSNs) as a means to identify State employees. This
bill would amend the Public Officers Law to provide that, unless
authorized or required by law, no state agency shall use Social
Security numbers (SSNs) of its employees for identification purposes.

The bill further provides that an agency which requests or requires an
employee to disclose his or her SSN must inform the employee in
writing whether such disclosure is voluntary or mandatory. If the
disclosure is voluntary, the agency must advise the employee of what
uses will be made of the SSN. If the disclosure is mandatory and the
agency is statutorily authorized to require the SSN, the agency must
(i) advise the employee of the statutory or other authority under
which the SSN is required; and (ii) advise the employee of what uses
will be made of the SSN.

 JUSTIFICATION :

Identity theft is a pervasive crime that is financially devastating.
People whose identities have been stolen can spend months or years and
thousands of dollars cleaning up the mess the thieves have made of a
good name and credit record. In the meantime, victims of identity
theft may lose job opportunities, be refused loans for education,
housing, or cars. Identity thieves thrive on harvesting personal
information in order to assume a person's identity. The Social
Security number is a key piece of information as it is linked to
credit reports and a number of other financial documents. The
misappropriation of SSNs can result in unscrupulous. individuals
gaining access to financial accounts, opening new accounts, and making
purchases of unsuspecting victims, thereby resulting in "identity
theft" that can cause years of substantial financial problems.


This bill seeks to limit possibility of SSN misappropriation by
prohibiting the State from using the SSN as an employee identifier.
The United States General Accounting Office provided testimony at a
September 2005 Assembly hearing stating "Although government agencies
told us of various steps they take to safeguard the SSNs they use, we
found that those key protections are not uniformly in place."

In 2002, a similar bill passed both houses and was vetoed by the
Governor. The Governor's veto message (Veto
19) stated "a thorough analysis by an appropriate Task Force of the
many complex issues the bill presents should precede the enactment of
statutory changes.  Accordingly, I am issuing an Executive Order
establishing such a Task Force to study the State's use of SSNs as
personal identifiers and recommend what steps should be taken to
safeguard public employees from the unnecessary dissemination and
Unlawful misappropriation of SSNs." The Task Force created by
Executive Order 122 never convened. This bill will take significant
steps in protecting State employees in the fight against identity
theft.

 LEGISLATIVE HISTORY :

2002: Similar to S.6707-A/A.10040-A - Veto Message
19.
2007: Passed Assembly/Passed Senate - Veto No. 78

 FISCAL IMPLICATIONS :

Some costs would be associated with creating new employee identifiers.

 EFFECTIVE DATE :
One hundred and eighty days after enactment.