ATLANTA (January 15, 2014) | Sen. John Albers ( R- Roswell) today introduced Senate Bill 285, a measure aimed at safeguarding citizens from having their personal social security numbers released to the public.
“In a day and age where personal identity theft is at an all-time high, this bill will provide an extra measure of security,” said Sen. Albers. “The State of Georgia already requires the redaction of social security numbers under public records law and will hold Georgia Superior Court Clerks to the same standard.”
As the law currently stands, citizens’ personal information is retrievable through a loophole that holds Georgia Superior Court Clerks harmless for disseminating personal social security numbers for public consumption. Under Senate Bill 285, Superior Court Clerks and the Georgia Superior Court Clerks’ Cooperative Authority would be required to redact the social security numbers of official documents prior to releasing to the public.
According to a report issued by the United States Government Accountability Office in 2005, “many states have enacted legislation to restrict the use and display of SSNs, focusing on public display restrictions, SSN solicitation, and customer notifications when SSNs are compromised.” If Senate Bill 285 achieves passage in Georgia, this legislation would put Georgia in line with states throughout the nation that have enacted similar policies.
Senate Bill 285 will now wait to be assigned to a Senate committee for further debate.
For Immediate Release:
January 15, 2014
For Information Contact:
Jennifer Yarber, Director
Shawna Mercer, Sr. Communications Specialist
Shawna Mercer@senate.ga.gov
404.656.0028