Despite much public debate, state legislators failed to enact meaningful protections against identity theft during the 2006 legislative session.

Identity theft is the taking of another’s personal information—such as Social Security number or date of birth—for the purpose of assuming the victim’s identity to commit fraud. An estimated 263,000 Georgians are affected every year by identity theft, making it one of the fastest growing crimes in Georgia.

Georgia PIRG staff advocated granting consumers the ability to place a security freeze on their credit file—a consumer protection already on the books in twelve other states.

A security freeze is the right to control access to your own credit report by protecting it with a passcode, similar to the PIN number you use at an ATM.

House Bill 966, sponsored by Rep. Rob Teilhet, gave all Georgians the right to place a security freeze, but due to intense opposition by the Chamber of Commerce and Equifax, it failed to pass the state House in the final days of the session.