In October, Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott, along with the attorneys general of 46 other states and the District of Columbia, urged Congress to protect consumers from identity theft.

TexPIRG has advocated strong identity theft protections for Texans, especially after several high-profile data leaks exposed consumers to identity thieves.Banks, credit card processors, state agencies, universities and others are doing a sloppy job protecting confidential consumer data from breaches: they’re losing it in
airports, they’re getting hacked, and they’re even selling it to thieves.

In recent years, the Legislature has passed several TexPIRG-backed bills to require companies to notify consumers affected by data leaks and to give victims of id theft the right to ‘freeze’ their credit to prevent thieves from creating new accounts.

However, spurred on by banks, credit card companies and other industries that engage in “data-dealing,” Congress is considering legislation that would override Texas’ strong consumer protections. The letter that the attorneys general sent encouraged Congress to instead strengthen protections and not override state reforms.