Legislative Findings

  1. Law
  2. Georgia Code
  3. Commerce and Trade
  4. Selling and Other Trade Practices
  5. Identity Theft
  6. Legislative Findings

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The General Assembly finds and declares as follows:

  1. The privacy and financial security of individuals is increasingly at risk due to the ever more widespread collection of personal information by both the private and public sectors;
  2. Credit card transactions, magazine subscriptions, real estate records, automobile registrations, consumer surveys, warranty registrations, credit reports, and Internet websites are all sources of personal information and form the source material for identity thieves;
  3. Identity theft is one of the fastest growing crimes committed in this state. Criminals who steal personal information such as social security numbers use the information to open credit card accounts, write bad checks, buy cars, purchase property, and commit other financial crimes with other people's identities;
  4. Implementation of technology security plans and security software as part of an information security policy may provide protection to consumers and the general public from identity thieves;
  5. Information brokers should clearly define the standards for authorized users of its data so that a breach by an unauthorized user is easily identifiable;
  6. Identity theft is costly to the marketplace and to consumers; and
  7. Victims of identity theft must act quickly to minimize the damage; therefore, expeditious notification of unauthorized acquisition and possible misuse of a person's personal information is imperative.

(Code 1981, §10-1-910, enacted by Ga. L. 2005, p. 851, § 1/SB 230.)

Law reviews.

- For article on 2005 enactment of this article, see 22 Ga. St. U.L. Rev. 1 (2005). For article, "The Growing Threat of Identity Theft and Its Implications for Employers," see 11 Ga. St. B. J. 27 (No. 6, 2006). For note, "Cybersecurity on my Mind: Protecting Georgia Consumers from Data Breaches," see 51 Ga. L. Rev. 265 (2016).

JUDICIAL DECISIONS

Tort action for wrongful disclosure of private information dismissed for failure to state cause of action.

- Dismissal of the plaintiff's cause of action against a state agency for disclosure of private information in violation of the Georgia Personal Identity Protection Act (GPIPA), O.C.G.A. § 10-1-910 et seq., was affirmed for failure to state a claim because the GPIPA did not impose any standard of conduct in implementing and maintaining data security practices; thus, it could not serve as the source of a statutory duty to safeguard personal information. McConnell v. Department of Labor, 337 Ga. App. 457, 787 S.E.2d 794 (2016).

RESEARCH REFERENCES

Identity Theft and Other Misuses of Credit and Debit Cards, 81 POF3d 113.


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