On February 21, 2007, the Federal Trade Commission announced it will be holding a workshop entitled “Proof Positive: New Directions in ID Authentication”. The purpose of the workshop is to explore methods to thwart identity thieves through enhanced authentication. In August of 2006, the FTC announced it was seeking public comment on its proposed rules to require employees of financial institutions to act as identity theft detectives.

At the end of January 2007, customers of a Florida luxury auto dealership were told that thieves might have compromised their non-public information. This theft of customer information is interesting because it was so basic. The dealership database was not compromised, nor did the thieves somehow pirate information from the dealership’s network.

Compliance, compliance, compliance! That’s the call throughout the automotive industry. Whether it be financial privacy compliance, EPA and OSHA compliance, or F&I compliance, all who have written on the subject have stressed the need to be compliant.

There seems to be a lot of discussion and confusion as to when and how adverse action notices pursuant to §1681m of the Fair Credit Reporting Act should be sent by dealerships. Each time an adverse action is taken with respect to a consumer’s request for credit, and that decision is based in any part upon the consumer’s report, information from an affiliate, or information from a third party, an adverse action notice must be delivered to the consumer. The notice must provide, pursuant to the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, specific reasons as to why adverse action was taken and, pursuant to the Fair Credit Reporting Act, include the consumer reporting agency that provided the information influencing the adverse decision, together with a notification that the reporting agency played no part in the decision, and is unable to supply specific reasons why credit was denied. The notice shall also include a statement that the consumer has a right under the Fair Credit Reporting Act to know the information contained in their credit file at the reporting agency, and to obtain a free copy of that report within sixty (60) days. The notice shall also include the name of the reporting agency together with a toll free number and address.