U.S. Congress Considers Small Business
Exemptions to the Red Flags Rule
The U.S. House of Representatives this week unanimously passed legislation that would exempt certain small
organizations from complying with the Red Flags Rules.
H.R. 3763 unanimously passed the U.S. House of Representatives this week, and would amend FACTA and the
component Identity Theft Red Flags Rule to exclude health care, accounting, and legal practices with 20 or fewer
employees from having to comply with the regulations, set to be enforced starting next month.
Also, the bill would create a provision to enable other businesses to apply for exemption. To be exempt from
complying with the regulation, the bill stipulates that a business would have to meet at least one of the following
guidelines:
1. It must know all of its customers or clients individually;
2. It must only perform services in or around the residences of its customers; or
3. It must not have experienced incidents of identity theft, and identity theft must be rare for businesses of its
type.
The bill now will move to the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs for a vote.
It is not yet known at this time if this pending bill will further delay the FTC's enforcement of the Red Flags Rule, which
is still currently set to begin on 1 November, 2009.
Read more:
New ID theft rules may not pertain to small businesses
by: Angela Moscaritolo, SCMagazine.com
Exemptions to the Red Flags Rule
The U.S. House of Representatives this week unanimously passed legislation that would exempt certain small
organizations from complying with the Red Flags Rules.
H.R. 3763 unanimously passed the U.S. House of Representatives this week, and would amend FACTA and the
component Identity Theft Red Flags Rule to exclude health care, accounting, and legal practices with 20 or fewer
employees from having to comply with the regulations, set to be enforced starting next month.
Also, the bill would create a provision to enable other businesses to apply for exemption. To be exempt from
complying with the regulation, the bill stipulates that a business would have to meet at least one of the following
guidelines:
1. It must know all of its customers or clients individually;
2. It must only perform services in or around the residences of its customers; or
3. It must not have experienced incidents of identity theft, and identity theft must be rare for businesses of its
type.
The bill now will move to the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs for a vote.
It is not yet known at this time if this pending bill will further delay the FTC's enforcement of the Red Flags Rule, which
is still currently set to begin on 1 November, 2009.
Read more:
New ID theft rules may not pertain to small businesses
by: Angela Moscaritolo, SCMagazine.com
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