Identity Theft Resource Center Proposes Child ID Theft Prevention Database

With the increasing theft of children's identities, the Identity Theft Resource Center (ITRC) has issued a call for the Social Security Administration and Department of Justice to create a tool for credit issuers to assess whether a social security number belongs to a minor.

"The credit issuers currently are blind, they have no way of knowing which year the social security number was issued, but even that wouldn't help, because it could have just been issued to a 40-year-old person who just got citizenship," said Linda Foley, co-executive director of the ITRC.

The "Minors 17-10 Database" proposed by the ITRC would contain the name, social security number, and month and year of birth for every child, between birth to the age of 17 years and 10 months. Today, says the ITRC, 8 percent to 9 percent of the calls received by the ITRC concern child identity theft.

The ITRC first proposed creating a database of kids' social security numbers in 2005, but says the idea has lately been getting more traction. Establishing the minors database wouldn't happen overnight, the organization says, as the database would have to be quite secure, and available only to approved entities in exchange for their promising certain security levels and safeguards.

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