Of course, in our dynamic housing market, this sounds like a good idea and it is…if only that were all that was included in this piece of legislation. Riding along with this bill is a proposed amendment that would require information reporting on payment cards and third party network transactions. This would affect virtually every credit card transaction in America from American Express to eBay and PayPal. It could force banks that enable merchants to receive credit card payments to abandon the sound privacy and information security practice whereby they currently do not track those merchants using Taxpayer Identification Numbers (TINs). For many small businesses, the TIN is the proprietor's Social Security Number (SSN).
That means that this proposal carries particularly acute privacy implications for many small business owners, as well as us consumers, as it leads to the government collecting and retaining personal and financial information on a small business owner who's TIN is their SSN. It is horrifying to consider the ramifications of a security breach or reporting error.
The passage of H.R. 3221 with this amendment also means that the government will be gathering more data on consumer buying habits though the collection of all credit card transaction details beginning January 1, 2011. Basically, what we have here is a Big Brother-esque nightmare looming on the horizon combining the worst of all information security worlds- federal government collected and retained SSNs plus consumer buying habits tied to a credit card number.
I just can't quite figure out how this amendment relates to foreclosure prevention.
We will be tracking this bill and keep you updated as actions occur. Please feel free to take your privacy and information security into your own hands. Contact your representatives in Washington D.C. and tell them what you think of this amendment to H.R. 3221. Your voice does make a difference!
