Report Title:

Social Security Number Protection

 

Description:

Amends section 338-4, Hawaii Revised Statutes, to redefine data reportable to county clerks in a manner consistent with protecting social security numbers.

 


HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.B. NO.

1110

TWENTY-FIFTH LEGISLATURE, 2009

 

STATE OF HAWAII

 

 

 

 

 

A BILL FOR AN ACT

 

 

RELATING TO SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER PROTECTION.

 

 

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

 


     SECTION 1.  Current state law requires that an individual registering as a voter in any county in the State of Hawaii make an application in the form of an affidavit that includes the name, the social security number, the date of birth, and the residence, including the mailing address.  Additionally, the department of health is mandated to provide to the county clerks a list of the names of all citizens of voting age or over whose deaths have been recorded in the department during each month.  The list shall be sufficient to allow county clerks to identify registered voters who have died and, currently, the county clerks request the full social security number of the deceased.

     The use of social security numbers as identity markers substantially increases the risk of identity theft.  State government has made strides to decrease its use of social security numbers and to increase criminal penalties for misuse of social security numbers.  Modernized data matching procedures are now able to match records using the last name, the first name, the date of birth, and the last four digits of the social security number with a high degree of accuracy.  These modern data matching procedures are effective and render the use of full social security numbers unnecessary and inefficient.

     The purpose of this bill is to reduce the use of full social security numbers for identification purposes by allowing the department of health to redact all but the last four digits of social security numbers provided to county clerks for the purposes of eliminating deceased persons from the voter rolls.

     SECTION 2.  Section 338-4, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

                "§338-4  Deaths reported to county clerks.  The department of health shall within six weeks after the end of each month deliver, or forward by mail, to the county clerk of each county a list of the names of all citizens of voting age or over whose deaths have been recorded in the department during each month.  The list shall [set forth such portion of the information contained in the death record of] include the first name, last name, date of birth, date of death, and last four digits of the social security number of each citizen whose death is so reported [as will be of assistance to the county clerk in identification].  If the reported information of a deceased citizen matches the information of more than one citizen on the county voter rolls and a county clerk notifies the department of health of that problem, the department of health shall provide the full social security number of that deceased citizen."

     SECTION 3.  Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken.  New statutory material is underscored.

     SECTION 4.  This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

 

INTRODUCED BY:

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BY REQUEST