Oakland County, Michigan, September 9, 2008 -- Beginning today, her office will be removing Social Security numbers from every standard photocopy of Circuit Court documents provided by the Legal Division of the Clerk's Office, Ruth Johnson announced.

"We just can't wait for the bureaucrats to catch up with current technology - criminals don't wait," Johnson said. "When the rules don't make sense, they need to be changed. I will fight against criminals interested in mining public documents for private information."

Michigan State Court guidelines currently authorize the Clerk's Office to black out or remove Social Security numbers from copies of court documents filed after March 2006. The problem, Johnson said, are copies requested from files recorded before March 2006 that still include Social Security numbers.

Under the new directive, Johnson has instructed staff in the Legal Division to black out Social Security numbers from all standard copies, whether paper photocopies or electronic copies provided to the public by their office. The Division provides residents with nearly 200,000 copies annually.

According to the FBI (www.fbi.gov), identity theft is one of the fastest growing crimes in the U.S., claiming "10 million victims a year." Access to Social Security numbers is a key enabler for criminals who steal identities.

"As an elected public official, I have a responsibility to do all I can to safeguard the private information of our citizens," Johnson said. She was joined Tuesday by an Oakland County mom, Janie Giles, whose daughter, Gabriella, just 4-years-old, had her Social Security number stolen and used by thieves.

While Gabriella's Social Security number was not obtained from county files, it does show how vulnerable the public can be to identity theft. The family suspects the Social Security number may have been stolen shortly after the family had applied to the state for the MIChild program, which provides health insurance for their children.

The family was required to provide all of their Social Security numbers on the state application form. Later, a clerk told Janie Giles that two other families had complained about stolen Social Security numbers that week.

Giles, a mom of four, discovered the theft when the family had their taxes done and found out that someone had already claimed a dependent child using Gabriella's Social Security number.

The Groveland Township family has struggled because of Michigan's economy and job layoffs. Her husband is a machine tool electrician. The stolen Social Security number has prevented them from claiming Gabby as a dependent on their taxes or as a dependent for the economic stimulus check - costing them a total of $2,000.

"It couldn't have happened at a worse time," Giles said. The family has tried to weather economic struggles by raising chickens and selling eggs locally, as well as cutting and selling firewood. The worst part is that while the state provided health insurance cards for her other three children - they didn't provide one for Gabby because her identity was stolen, her mom said.

"Gabby is just four years old and she may have to struggle with this her entire life," her mom said. "You need your Social Security number for everything - to get a job, get a license, to register to vote, sign up for phone and electrical service, everything."

The IRS has told her there is little to be done. Her tax preparer told her the same thing could occur next year, "and that whoever files their return with Gabby's number first will get to claim her as a dependent," Giles said. "We couldn't even put a fraud alert on her - they said she's too young to have a credit history and isn't eligible."

Tuesday's action joins other initiatives Johnson has made over the last two years to fight identity theft, including the formation of an Identity Protection Task Force with Oakland Circuit Judge Joan Young, the county's IT Division, the Oakland Circuit Court, Corporation Counsel and members of the Oakland County Bar Association.

The group is expecting to put several pilot programs into place to stop the inclusion of private information in public court files and streamline the removal of information already in the public domain. The programs could serve as a model for the entire state.

"Judge Young, the county's IT Division and the Circuit Court have worked so hard on these issues and we will be continuing to push for pilot programs to deal with these challenges - they should be commended," Johnson said. "They are true public servants."

Other measures Johnson has taken to fight identity theft include:

• With the assistance of the county's IT Division, the scrubbing of thousands of Social Security numbers from electronic court case summaries.
• Creation of FRAUDCHECK, a free online service to fight property fraud, where homes are stolen on paper with forged documents.
• Revising forms; nearly 30 court documents approved by the State Court Administrator's Office now require Social Security numbers. Johnson is working with the SCAO to remove this requirement.
• "Government has a responsibility to protect families," Johnson said. "We have to make changes now - every day we wait leaves people vulnerable."

For more information or to interview Johnson, please call (248) 858-0560.