The most recent figures have shown Hawai'i as a state with one of the highest rates of identity theft in the nation. Companies and agencies that track this problem are reporting that nationally, ID theft reached record levels in 2007.

So the slate of proposed improvements to government procedures issued by the Hawai'i Identity Theft Task Force is a welcome starting point, at least at the local level.

After a survey of state and county agencies over the past year, the panel found a lack of adequate safeguards — either technological, physical or procedural — for the personal information entrusted to them.

And that covers a lot of data, with 85 agencies holding a reported 20 million to 30 million records containing personal information.

Among the most appalling findings: Only about one in four of those agencies had mandatory employee training on how and when it's appropriate to disclose personal information. Almost as distressing is the news that nearly half lack procedures for concealing personal information on paper documents.

Certainly some of these failings will take time to correct, but what's needed immediately is a plan for correcting them, something that lawmakers should demand this session.

One of the most urgent actions the task force wants enforced is the reduction in the use in records of Social Security numbers, a key data piece enabling a scammer to assume the identity of that person. It no longer appears on driver's licenses. The task force wants restrictions on its use that were passed a year ago to take effect in July 2009; that deadline should remain firm, and while at that time agencies should be required to report reduction in the use of other private information in records.

Nearly all the agencies surveyed reported transmitting information to third parties, and they need to ensure that these outside organizations disclose how that personal data are used.

As recommended, government also should standardize the steps it takes in response to an information breach, so that any individual affected will have enough lead time to protect their assets from theft.

ID Analytics Inc., a risk-management firm, compiled data on fraud cases nationally and concluded that Hawai'i ranks sixth in identity fraud, a category that includes ID theft.

This is not a distinction that this state wants to keep. The recommended measures will help, but consumers themselves have to do their part, as well, taking better care in how they handle and display personal data. They are the ones with everything to lose to the ID scammer.

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