California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a bill into law Sept. 30 that is intended to reduce the likelihood that people will become identity theft victims.

The Federal Trade Commission reports that California ranks third behind Arizona and Nevada in per capita identity theft.

Sponsored by Sen. Debra Bowen, D-Redondo Beach, the bill requires retailers and financial institutions to remove credit card and bank account numbers from credit card transaction receipts at stores and banks.

“The fewer places your sensitive financial information appears in print, the lower the odds are that you’ll become the state’s next identity theft victim,” Bowen said in a written statement. “In this day and age, there’s no reason why retailers or banks need to print people’s credit card numbers on the receipts they keep.”

California law already requires credit card numbers to be removed from store receipts handed to customers. The new law, previously SB1699, expands the rule to also require the numbers to be removed from receipts kept by merchants or banks doing the transaction.

The requirement will not apply to stores that don’t submit their transactions electronically and need paper receipts with the customer’s credit or debit account numbers on it to get paid.

Schwarzenegger also signed a separate bill to help combat identity theft.

Signed by the governor in late August, the new law is intended to help law enforcement agencies in California spot trends of identity theft and more effectively combat the growing crime.

The new law, previously SB1390, requires the California Department of Justice to include information regarding identity theft arrests in the agency’s annual crime report.

Sen. Chuck Poochigian, R-Fresno, the bill’s sponsor, said separating out identity theft arrest information will create more accurate criminal justice statistical data.                                                                      

One other identity theft bill signed into law strengthens penalties for repeat offenders and makes some crimes a felony. The new law, previously AB2886, also makes mail theft a misdemeanor on the state level.

– By Keith Goble, state legislative editor
keith_goble@landlinemag.com