Identity Theft and the FTC
Many Americans are worried about identity theft and the Federal Trade Commission has decided to do something about it in order to protect consumers. What they have decided is to enforce businesses to comply with identity theft regulations. I am concerned that Government is too busy sticking its nose into the affairs of private enterprise and alarmed that every time they try to stop problems like SPAM and Identity Theft, that the problem increases 10-fold.
What if the government regulators at places like the FTC simply went away? The government gives away more personal information on citizens causing more problems than any other group. If they are so incompetent, why do we even bother to listen to them? The FTC - Forget the Consumer. I would say that promoting the comments of regulators like this article does, only makes the problem bigger and invites more government intervention.
That can be no good for anyone, including the taxpayer. Except for the lawyers and identity thieves, everyone else loses. Each time a new regulation or rule is placed on businesses, corporations or their IT departments, those costs are passed on to the consumer. This is causing wholesale inflation and it will reflect in every single purchase that consumers make whether it is a product or service.
Identity theft is a serious issue - however, we must consider who started identity theft in the first place. It was the government that started collecting the information from each citizen in storing those records and in making those records available to the public. The tax rolls, marriage licenses, business slices is, drivers licenses and all sorts of things are available free to anyone that wants to look them up.
So, who is really causing the identity theft? Government, but, if government is causing the problems why are we allowing them to tell us how to solve the problem that they created? I vote for fewer regulations on businesses and for government to take care of its own problem before telling us what to do. That is my final answer. Something to Contemplate in 2008.
