Missouri AG supports identity theft legislation

Attorney General Jay Nixon announced two different news items last week intended to protect Missouri consumers and youth.

• A bill to be filed for next year’s Missouri General Assembly would give citizens greater protection from identity theft, according to Attorney General Jay Nixon.

Nixon said the bill, to be filed next month by Rep. Sara Lampe, D-Springfield, would put more safeguards in place to protect personal information and increase penalties for those convicted of identity theft scams.

The legislation would require breaches of computerized personal financial information to be disclosed in a timely manner if the breach could result in identity theft.

The proposal also would allow Missourians to place security alerts on their credit reports and prohibit the release of an individual’s information without his or her expressed consent.

“During the past year, approximately 9 million Americans were victims of identity theft, costing those consumers $5 billion directly and law enforcement, merchants and financial institutions another $47 billion,” Nixon said in a press release. “These measures can help stop an identity thief before real damage is done.”

Nixon said the Federal Trade Commission received about 3,900 reports of identity theft in Missouri last year.

• The AG also announced an agreement between 40 state attorneys general and ConocoPhillips Co. that would discourage the sale of tobacco to minors.

The Assurance of Voluntary Compliance, which covers 900 convenience stores in Missouri operating under the Conoco, 76 or Phillips 66 trademarks, requires franchisees to report any underage tobacco sales infractions that occur.

“Unfortunately, the corner convenience store has too often been an illegal point of (tobacco) purchase when clerks don’t ask for proof of age,” Nixon said in a news release. “This requirement in the ConocoPhillips contracts will be a powerful incentive for franchisees to stop underage tobacco sales.”

Of the 900 stores in Missouri affected by the announcement, 21 are directly owned by the company.