Wired News: Congress Must Deal With ID Theft

This article lists a series of reforms that would greatly reduce the identity theft business. But they'd also cut into the profits of banks, credit card companies and credit agencies. And so they'll never happen because those businesses have the well-paid lobbyists to ensure that grease is applied in the correct places.

Wired News: Congress Must Deal With ID Theft:

Recent high-profile data security problems at companies like ChoicePoint, LexisNexis, Bank of America and Citibank make it clear that companies are doing little to protect sensitive data, despite assurances years ago that voluntary industry guidelines they established would pre-empt the need for government regulation.

Realizing that self-regulation isn't going to work anymore, several lawmakers have proposed piecemeal solutions to address the problem of identity theft. But many of them don't go far enough.

Following are the fixes we think Congress should make: