Every time a consumer walks in a store or makes an order through a website they have the right to be treated fairly and to know their private information will not be shared without their consent. In the State House, I have been a strong advocate for taxpayers, working to protect seniors and consumers from fraud, identity theft and other economic crimes, and increasing penalties for abuses of power by corporations.

New technologies are now offering exciting opportunities for people and businesses but as more and more information becomes readily available that same technology can threaten the privacy of our personal information – information that can be used without a consumer’s consent to commit a crime. We must continue to balance the right of businesses to contribute to the state’s economic engine with the right of consumers to be treated fairly and to know their information is protected.
 

Preventing the Crime of Identity Theft

Click this image to download a PDF of Senator Barrios' 10 Tips to Protect Your Identity.

We must do more to protect Massachusetts residents from the crime of identity theft, which is one of the fastest growing crimes in the country.

According to the Federal Reserve Bank, between 500,000 and 700,000 Americans are victims of identity theft each year. And in early 2005, I was shocked to find out that companies responsible for protecting consumers’ personal information – companies like Choicepoint and Bank of America – had announced that thieves had been able to steal important personal data of hundreds of thousands of people.

I have written a bill with MASSPIRG that will empower consumers to protect their personal, financial and medical information. Key components of the bill include:

• Breach Notification —requires commercial entities and government agencies to notify affected consumers if enough of their personal information to commit identity theft has been acquired by an unauthorized person or for an unauthorized purpose.
• Credit Report Security Freeze —enables consumers to “lock” their credit report, preventing would be ID thieves from taking out credit in their name.
• Police Reports —allows victims of ID theft to get a copy of their police report from any law enforcement office, even if crime did not occur in that jurisdiction (in a different city or state). Victims need a copy of their police report to clean up the financial mess resulting from identity theft and to qualify for a free security freeze.
  
  Good parts of the bill include no fee for placing the security freeze, one free lift of the security freeze from each credit reporting agency annually, and capping subsequent lift fees at $5.

Protecting Your Personal Information

I have filed legislation that protects the sale and dissemination of a consumers’ purchasing history.  With new technologies increasingly available companies now have greater access not only to their own clients’ personal information but to information about other companies’ customers through data-sharing.  My bill requires companies, including retailers and credit card companies, to inform consumers when they are collecting their personal information, to keep access to that information strictly limited, not give or sell that information to a third party, and to retain shared information for only as long as is absolutely necessary.  As the 2005-06 legislative session is coming to an end, it seems that this bill will probably not be passed in this session, but I will be refiling it in the next legislative session.

Giving Cell Phone Users a Bill of Rights

We should not be letting cell phone companies get away with bad customer service, confusing bills, and hidden fees.  Because the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has refused to enact even the most basic consumer protections for cell phones, I have joined forces with MASSPIRG and Lynn Representative Steven Walsh to sponsor a Cell Phone Users’ Bill of Rights that will force companies to treat customers with respect and openness.

According to a study released in February 2005 by the Massachusetts Public Interest Research Group (MASSPIRG) consumer complaints about cell phones and service are skyrocketing, far outpacing the significant growth of the industry.  Can You Hear Us Now? A report on how the cell phone industry has failed consumers, chronicles the proliferation of confusing calling plans, billing errors, hidden fees, dropped calls, spotty signal coverage, inadequate customer service and excessive contract termination fees. For the full report, visit MASSPIRG.

My cell phone users' "Bill of Rights" (S.B. 1790) will protect consumers by requiring:

• Cell phone carriers to obtain customers' express permission prior to making cell phone numbers public. They should not charge a fee for keeping the number private.

• All wireless contracts and marketing materials should clearly spell out the terms of the contract in an easy-to-read, standardized format.  The disclosures should be made available and accessible to consumers comparing prices and services among competing carriers.
• The state utility commission should monitor service quality.  Data should be collected and made publicly available so consumers can compare signal strength, dropped call counts and dead zones across carriers.

• Consumers should have a risk-free trial period during which they can cancel any new service after receiving their first bill, without incurring the high contract cancellation fees. This trial period would give consumers time to evaluate the carrier’s coverage area and determine whether the service works as promised. Consumers should have 30 days to cancel a contract after receiving the first bill so that they may verify representations regarding the cost of service.

• Contracts should be for no longer than one year, with an option for renewal. Contracts should not be automatically extended without the customer’s permission.

The bill was sent to the Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy and was discharged to the Committee on Ethics & Rules where it seems likely to stay this legislative session.  I will be working on refiling this issue again in the next legislative session.

We’ve all been fooled by tricky contracts and hidden fees when shopping for cars.  That must stop.  When shopping for a car – or any product for that matter – consumers should be given every bit of information about pricing and warranty up front.  I have written the Car Buyers’ Bill of Rights to require all car dealers to provide consumers with the specific terms of the contract and provide copies of those terms prior to signing. It also requires dealers to provide the buyer with a copy of their credit score and the lowest interest rate they qualify for, which will eliminate artificial inflation of interest rates for the dealers’ profit.
 

Protecting Consumer Privacy with Emerging Technologies

This session, I have filed a bill to address an emerging and promising piece of new technology, Radio Frequency Identification (RFID).  RFID is being used by more and more companies and retailers to track products and consumer spending. This technology, which will replace bar codes in the next decade, uses tags to tracks specific items via censors from the factory floor to the store shelf and on to the checkout counter.

Consumers have a right to know whether their purchases are being tracked and should be able to remove these tags without destroying a product. (Some clothing retailers have considered weaving RFID tags into the sweaters they produce.) My bill requires stores to inform customers if they are using RFID technology and requires manufacturers to allow these RFID tags to be easily removed by the consumer.  I believe these provisions will protect consumers while still allowing the business community to take advantage of this new and valuable technology.

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