I just received the following email:
Dean Martinez, Secretary of the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation, is notifying real estate licensees that a breach of security occurred on a State of Illinois server containing the name of some licensees including their social security or employer identification number.
The email goes on to explain that we should monitor our charge accounts; set up a fraud alert with the credit reporting bureaus and file a police report.
My suggestion is much simpler. Remove all social security number requirements. They are unnecessary. Why is it necessary when I take a continuing education class to supply my social security number? Why is it necessary to put my social security number on my test?
The State of Illinois has removed social security numbers from driver's licenses; banks have told their clients to remove the numbers from their checks.
So, why does the Department require our social security number? When we pass the real estate licensing test we are assigned a sales person or broker's number. Isn't that good enough?
With rampant Identity Theft we need to be more vigilent and we, agents and brokers, need to make our voices heard with our State of Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation.
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