Coffman Takes Steps to Thwart Identity Thieves

Online Access to Scanned Uniform Commercial Code Images Suspended Until Personal Identifying Information Is Removed

Denver, March 29, 2007 – Today, Secretary of State Mike Coffman took steps to prevent identity thieves from pulling personal identifying information from Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) filings posted on the Colorado Secretary of State’s Business Division website.

As the state’s chief filing officer, the Secretary of State’s office receives thousands of UCC filings a month, both electronically and in paper form. The office electronically scans the paper filings it receives and posts them on the Secretary’s website. Borrowers and lenders depend upon the ability to search these filings to determine if commercial property is free of encumbrances.

Yesterday, Secretary Coffman learned that an unknown number of these scanned paper images contain Social Security Numbers.

The problem stems from financial institutions using outdated UCC filing forms. In 2001, the Secretary of State realized that many of the UCC filings required a Social Security Number. At that time, the office requested funding from the General Assembly to remove the personal data from the scanned filings.

House Bill 02-1014 appropriated $587,722 for the Department of State to redact Social Security Numbers on filings received prior to July 1, 2001. The redaction project was completed in May 2003; the Department redacted Social Security Numbers from 610,210 filings out of 1,667,559 filings examined.

The 2001 legislation also gave the Secretary of State the legal authority to create a new UCC form that does not ask for a Social Security Number.

However, yesterday the Department was alerted to the fact that some financial institutions are still using the outdated form, which includes a box that asks for a Social Security Number.

Consequently, Coffman immediately took the following steps:

• Suspended the capability to view scanned images of UCC paper filings from 2001 to the present, so Social Security Numbers currently on the site can no longer be accessed.
• Implemented an in-house search solution using additional staff in the Business Division to accommodate the needs of the financial community that is dependent on access to these images.
• Suspended bulk electronic sales of the Department’s UCC database.
• Instituted a process to review each new paper filing received, so a Social Security Number will be redacted prior to scanning and posting.
• Notify financial institutions that still use the outdated form to inform them that they must immediately begin using the new form that does not include a request for a Social Security Number.
• Notify associations of financial institutions and ask for their assistance in notifying their members about the need to stop using outdated forms that ask for Social Security Numbers.

The Secretary’s office will begin a new redaction project to examine approximately 320,000 paper filings that have been received and scanned into the website since 2001.

“The Secretary of State’s office continually needs to strike a balance between providing the public with important information such election results, lobbyists information, and business transactions, while also protecting the most sensitive information that we collect, such as credit card numbers and Social Security Numbers,” Coffman said.

“We are all vulnerable to identity theft – private citizens and public officials alike,” Coffman continued. “It is in everyone’s best interest that we do a better job of protecting the personal information that we collect.”