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OP-ED COLUMN Week of April 6, 2009 Identity theft bill re-introduced to protect Canadians By
Garry Breitkreuz, M.P. |
Federal Minister of Justice Rob Nicholson has re-introduced tough legislation that will make identity theft a crime.
The theft of an individual’s identity should be illegal in a day and age when organized crime and modern technology are conspiring to take unfair advantage of Canadians. There is a good chance that you know someone who has been affected by identity theft, and it’s important to break this trend.
This legislation will provide police with the tools they need to protect Canada’s families, seniors, and businesses from the harm of identity crime. The term "identity theft" can refer to the preliminary steps of collecting, possessing and trafficking in personal information for the purpose of engaging in existing crimes such as impersonation, fraud, or misuse of debit or credit card data.
Identity theft in this sense is different from “identity fraud,” which is the subsequent actual deceptive use of the identity information of another person in connection with various crimes. Identity theft takes place prior to and in preparation for identity fraud, and incredibly, right now it’s legal to do so.
Our government believes that identity theft is a serious criminal activity. It is becoming increasingly lucrative and easily crosses provincial and international borders. In 2007, more than 10,000 Canadian victims reported losses of more than $6 million to PhoneBusters, the Canadian anti-fraud call centre. Between January 1 and October 3 of last year, more than 9,000 Canadian victims of identity theft reported losses of more than $8 million to PhoneBusters. The Canadian Council of Better Business Bureaus has estimated that identity theft may cost Canadian consumers, banks, credit card companies, stores and other businesses more than $2 billion a year.
The proposed legislation would create three new offences targeting the early stages of identity-related crime, all of which would be subject to a five-year maximum prison sentence. The offences are:
| 1. | Obtaining and possessing identity information with the intent to use the information deceptively, dishonestly or fraudulently in the commission of a crime; | |
| 2. | Trafficking in identity information, an offence that targets those who transfer or sell information to another person with knowledge of or recklessness toward the possible criminal use of the information; and | |
| 3. | Unlawfully possessing or trafficking in government-issued identity documents that contain the information of another person. |
As new technology develops, the government must adapt its legislation to keep up with the times. For more information on how to protect yourself, check out the PhoneBusters website at www.phonebusters.com/english/recognizeit_identitythe.html.
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The audio version of Garry's April 6, 2009 op-ed column can be heard by clicking here