The FTC has announced that they will give federal institutions more time to become compliant with rules that were originally to be enfored on November 1, 2008. These rules would require that financial institutions have measures in place to be able to determine any fraudulent transactions or data breaches that are taking place. These institutions are required to have a written plan of identity theft prevention and to implement that plan. Now that identity theft has become such a widespread problem, these measures are necessary.

According to the FTC.gov website: “The Federal Trade Commission will suspend enforcement of the new “Red Flags Rule” until May 1, 2009, to give creditors and financial institutions additional time in which to develop and implement written identity theft prevention programs. Today’s announcement and the release of an Enforcement Policy Statement do not affect other federal agencies’ enforcement of the original November 1, 2008 deadline for institutions subject to their oversight to be in compliance.”

Many financial institutions face a huge problem in that there are many uncertainties in regard to how this new plan affects them and how they can implement new procedures. Many feel that existing measures are all that they can do and need more insight on how to become compliant.

Tami Nealy, director of public affairs for the identity theft prevention firm LifeLock, said the company’s home state of Arizona continues to hold the No. 1 ranking for identity theft, with Florida at No. 5. “I have seen a lot of organizations out there that have their plans in place and are ready to go,” Nealy said, but noted that consumer education must still be a priority, along with assisting law enforcement agencies.

This entry was posted on Monday, November 3rd, 2008 at 5:12 pm and is filed under Articles Concerning Identity Theft. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.