New state law protects customers' identities

A new state law requiring almost all businesses in Montana to protect customer privacy and prevent identity theft went into affect March 1 and it would appear many Polson and Ronan businesses are in compliance without even knowing it.

Many business owners said they haven't even heard of House Bill 732, save Doug Pieters of Ronan's Radio Shack.

"I've heard of it," he said. "I kind of like it. It's a little safer."

The law requires that businesses have credit card terminals that only print the last four digits of a customer's credit card number. Radio Shack's terminal is relatively new and does just that.

Darla Reynolds of Reynolds' Rentals takes a few extra precautions to protect her customers' privacy. On occasion she'll have to do a transaction over the phone and physically write down a customer's credit card number. When the transaction is complete "the number goes right into the shredder," she said.

And that is exactly what the new privacy law requires. Businesses can no longer just crumple and throw away a sales receipt or any document with personal information. The law states that customer records must be shredded, erased or manipulated so that they are unreadable.

Shandice Kerr of Kerr's Cellular utilizes a shredder as well. Being in the cell phone business, she handles a lot of personal information. The state law considers anything with a social security number, credit card number, name, address, signature, telephone number or a combination thereof as personal information.

"Anything with a social security number or credit card number, anything like that, we shred," she said. "Identity theft is everywhere. There is so much of it going on."

Kerr said identity thieves typically take pictures of credit cards, and often use cell phones to do so.

"People are clever," she said.

Along with Pieters, Kerr is also aware of the law. In addition to operating a cell phone business, she works with Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act in Missoula. Working there, a state employee investigated the operation and found that they were in compliance with the new law.

If personal information has to be kept on record, it is stored and locked in a file, Kerr said. Her credit card machine doesn't even print out the last four numbers. Instead, the receipt will only show a confirmation number.

Christy Gibbs of Christy's Design for You has nothing to worry about. Her fabric alteration business handles strictly cash and checks.

"Credit cards are too big of a headache," she said.

Of the five Ronan businesses surveyed, only one was found to using a terminal that prints an entire credit card number.

If a printing device was in use before Jan. 1 2005, businesses have till 2008 to find a new device that is in compliance with the law. However, businesses whose terminal was in use after Jan. 1 2005 are expected to be in compliance already.

"It shouldn't be that big of a task [to get a new terminal]," said Webb Brown, president and CEO of Montana Chamber of Commerce.

In 2004, the Federal Trade Commission reported 364 cases of identity theft, ranking Montana 44th among the states.

"It is a high-profile problem, but not a big problem," Brown said.

Brown said that when the law was first proposed, the MCOC voted against it because it was far too stringent on business owners and customers. For example, had the original bill gone into affect, customers would not be allowed to open credit accounts with a store.

"This bill is allowing us to provide as much protection without putting blockades in front of people," Brown said.