Pierce said Public Law 22 provides a way for victims of identity theft to restore tainted credit histories, and expands the legal definition of the crime to make prosecutions easier. ID theft is considered one of the fastest-growing crimes across the country.
"Through this law, a court will have the ability to send a written order to creditors on behalf of people victimized by identity theft," Pierce said. "The damage created by ID theft can last for years as victims attempt to restore credit ratings and other financial information that can impact their ability to secure loans for college, homes or automobiles. Giving courts the authority to order credit reporting agencies to restore a victim's credit history will help ensure people are not victimized twice by identity theft."
PL 22 also expands the definition of the crime of identity theft to include using identifying information to assume someone else's identity or profess to be another person. The definition of identifying information also will expand to include a person's address, place of employment and mother's maiden name, which is a standard item of confirmation used by credit card companies.
Weinzapfel said Public Law 36 will require those who send unsolicited electronic mail, better known as "spam," to include a code in the subject line of the mail that clearly identifies it as an advertisement (ADV:) or an adult-oriented ad (ADV:ADLT). People who no longer wish to receive these ads will be removed from the e-mail lists of senders. If such requests are not honored, recipients will be able to pursue legal action using the state's deceptive consumer sales laws, which carry penalties of up to $500 per offense.
"This law makes it easier for a person to determine if he or she is getting an ad via e-mail, which makes it easier to decide whether or not to open the mail," Weinzapfel said. "You will be able to tell the person sending the mail that you don't want to get these messages any more. If they persist, you can take them to court.
"As e-mail has become a favored means of conducting personal and professional business, it has become a vehicle to sell many goods and services," he continued. "I want to make sure that consumers are not being constantly inundated with messages for things they do not want. This act is a logical progression from the state's 'no call' list that protects Hoosiers from telemarketers."
Fry said Public Law 201 will restrict the use of credit scoring as a means of determining a person's eligibility for insurance coverage. Insurers will be prevented from using certain types of information such as income, gender, address, ethnic group, religion, marital status or nationality in deciding whether to issue or renew a personal property or casualty insurance policy.
"Insurance companies have used these factors in the past to determine an applicant's level of risk before selling such things as auto, home or renter's policies," Fry noted. "When criteria like gender and religion become factors, there is a greater likelihood that insurers could discriminate in determining premiums, deciding whether to accept of decline coverage and whether a person should be placed with a non-standard insurer who can charge higher rates.
"Those who have the ability to pay for insurance coverage should have the right to receive that coverage and not be denied because of guidelines that could be used to discriminate," he added. "PL 201 will help people get the affordable insurance coverage they need to protect themselves and their families."