[Adopted 10-20-2008 by Ord. No. 2684 (Ch. 3.44 of the 1997 Code)]
This article shall be known as the "Identity Theft Prevention
Program."
This policy and protection program applies to employees, contractors,
consultants, temporary workers, and other workers employed by the
City, including all personnel affiliated with third parties.
The following shall be done and performed with regard to updating
the plan:
A. At periodic intervals established in the program, or as required
by the City Council, the program will be reevaluated to determine
whether all aspects of the program are up to date and applicable in
the current business environment.
B. Periodic reviews will include an assessment of which accounts are
covered by the program.
C. As part of the review, red flags may be revised, replaced or eliminated.
Defining new red flags may also be appropriate.
D. Actions to take in the event that fraudulent activity is discovered
may also require revision to reduce damage to the City and its customers.
[Adopted at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General
Provisions, Art. I)]
This Identity Protection Policy is adopted pursuant to the Illinois
Identity Protection Act (5 ILCS 179/1 et seq.). The Identity Protection
Act requires local government entities, including the City of Columbia,
to have in place by June 1, 2011, an Identity Protection Policy to
ensure the confidentiality and integrity of social security numbers
(SSNs) that the City collects, maintains, and uses. It is important
to safeguard SSNs against unauthorized access because SSNs can be
used to facilitate identity theft. One way to better protect SSNs
is to limit the widespread dissemination of those numbers. The Identity
Protection Act was passed by the Illinois General Assembly in part
to require the City and other local and state government agencies
to assess their personal information collection practices and make
necessary changes to those practices to ensure confidentiality. All
City officers, employees, and agents shall comply with the Identity
Protection Act and this policy at all times.
As used in this article, the following terms shall have the
meanings indicated:
ACT
The Illinois Identity Protection Act (5 ILCS 179/1 et seq.).
COUNCIL
The City Council of the City of Columbia.
EMPLOYEE
Any individual in the employ of the City.
POLICY
This Identity Protection Policy.
REDACT
To alter or truncate data so that no more than five sequential
digits of a SSN are accessible as part of personal information.
SSN(S)
Any social security number provided to an individual by the
Social Security Administration.
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE
A document stating the purpose or purposes for which the
City is collecting and using an individual's SSN. The City Administrator
or his or her designee is authorized to establish or modify one or
more statements of purpose from time to time that comply with this
policy.
Any time the City collects an individual's SSN, or at any other
time upon request of the individual, the City shall provide the individual
with a statement of purpose.
The City shall comply with the provisions of the Illinois Freedom
of Information Act (5 ILCS 140/1 et seq.) and any other state law
with respect to allowing the public inspection and copying of information
or documents containing all or any portion of an individual's SSN.
However, the City shall redact SSNs from the information or documents
before allowing the public inspection or copying of the information
or documents. When collecting SSNs, the City shall request each SSN
in a manner that makes the SSN easy to redact if required to be released
as part of a public records request.
Only employees who are required to use or handle information
or documents that contain SSNs in the course of performing their duties
will have access to such information and documents. All employees
who have access to SSNs shall first be trained to protect the confidentiality
of SSNs. The training will include instructions on the proper handling
of information that contains SSNs from the time of collection through
destruction of the information.
Neither the City nor any employee shall encode or embed a SSN
in or on a card or document, including, but not limited to, using
a bar code, chip, magnetic strip, RFID technology, or other technology,
in place of removing the SSN as required by the Act and this policy.
All City employees shall be advised of the existence of this
policy. City employees who are required to use or handle information
or documents that contain SSNs shall be provided a copy of this policy,
which each shall maintain at all times. The City shall maintain on
file a written copy of this policy which is available to all employees
and any member of the public by requesting a copy from the City Administrator.
This policy may be amended by the City Council at any time. If the policy is amended, the City Council shall advise all employees of the existence of the amended policy. A copy of the amended policy will be made available to employees and the public as set forth §
53-2.9 above.