Mr. Speaker, last week the government claimed to be addressing identity theft without touching industries that traffic in surreptitiously obtained personal information and credit histories.
There is nothing to prevent retailers from violating the privacy of customers by selling purchase histories, unlisted phone numbers, and credit information to U.S. based telemarketing firms.
Worse, these firms are under no legal obligation to reveal the source of credit histories they purchase to target Canadians for U.S. credit card companies. Regrettably, the same information that makes someone a candidate for pre-approved credit also makes the person a candidate to be a victim of fraud.
I ask the government to take immediate steps to prevent companies from selling personal information without obtaining consent.
If the government is serious about curbing identity theft, it cannot allow a free for all in the possession and sale of the ammunition that makes identity theft possible.