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The
state of California has more than 250 agencies,
departments, commissions, and boards, many of
which provide useful information and
living-strategies to the people of California. The
agencies may be untapped resources for librarians
fielding patron questions.
To
help our readers maneuver around the state of
California’s services, we are making “State
Spotlight” a regular feature in CSL Connection.
In each issue, the “Spotlight” will
highlight one service-based agency whose
web-links, toll-free phone numbers, information
charts, and referrals inform the general public.
Department
of Consumer Affairs-Office of Privacy Protection
 In
today’s digital culture, our numbers–birth
date, drivers license, social security and so on–have evolved into maps to our assets and
credit, to where we live and work–to who we
are.
Luckily,
California is the first state to have an agency
dedicated to promoting and protecting the privacy
rights of consumers. The Office
of Privacy Protection, within the
Department of Consumer Affairs, offers members of
the public practical information on how to protect
their privacy.
Answers
to Frightening Questions
The
Office of Privacy Protection (OPP) is, according to
Chief Joanne McNabb, one of the only places in
California that consumers can go for help and
answers about identity theft, unwanted phone
calls, emails and mail, privacy practices, and
financial and medical privacy.
Sixty
percent of the people who call the OPP’s toll-free number
[(866) 785-9663] want to know how stop criminals
from opening credit in their name. The OPP’s
callers’ wallets have been stolen or they have
replied to a “phishing” email, phony “alerts”
from banks asking to verify account data. Fifteen
percent of the Office’s callers have already
been victimized.
OPP
staff gives callers steps such as alerting people of fraud on
credit files, freezing files and contacting
creditors and law enforcement, to protect
themselves. “Identity theft is an indiscriminate
crime,” McNabb says. “It can affect old,
young, people with good credit and bad credit–anyone with a Social Security number.” McNabb’s
biggest tip to consumers is “Don’t give out
personal information unless you initiated
the contact.”
Print-out
Tip Sheets
Visitors
who go to the OPP
site will find “Consumer Information
“ sheets. Libraries can use the sheets as
brochures, some of which are available in multiple
languages. The “Consumer Information “ sheets
are: Your Financial Privacy, Identity Theft
Victim Check List; Your Social Security Number:
Controlling the Key to Identity Theft; Leave Me
Alone: How to Slow the Flow of Unwanted
Communications; How to Read a Privacy Policy; Your
Patient Privacy Rights-A Consumer Guide to
Health Information Privacy in California; How to
Use the California Identity Theft Registry-A
Guide for Victims of "Criminal" Identity
Theft; Protecting Your Child's Privacy Online; How
to "Freeze" Your Credit Files.
For
more information, contact the Office of Privacy
Protection at (866) 785-9663
or email privacy@dca.ca.gov. |
