5.3. ERMUSR 10-14-2008 - Laserfiche WebLink

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.^~/ Elk River Municipal Utilities 13069 Orono Parkway • P.O. Box 430 Elk River, MN 55330-0430 October 10, 2008 To: Ell: River Municipal Utilities commission Jerry Takle Jim Tralle John Dietz From: Theresa Slominski Subject: Red Flag/Identity Theft Prevention Policy Phone: 763.441.2020 Fax: 763.441.8099 fay November i st, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) "Red Flag" regulations are requirint, all banks and other "creditors" to design and approve their own tailored plans for preventing th:r ~ uston.~ers' information fi~i~raa being stolen or used illegally. Under these regulations,. tl,;.. form "~.rf~ditor" encompasses all utilities, inchiding municipal z~til:tics, because t;7e°; provide service ai~ead of payaYat~r;t. "IZod Fiat g" is the term used in the regulatic:>ns t:c? re~:~r to v~aa-aairg signs that a customer's personal information has been compa orr~~.ist:d~. MMUA provided a model template to utilities as guidance for adopting their own plan. The template was reviewed and modified to reflect ERMU current practices and policies. In the last few years, with the adoption of collecting social security numbers and other identification, adopting a deposit policy, and utilizing the resource of Online Utility Exchange, we have many of these "Red Flag" issues addressed. We have passwords, computer timeoazts, physical barriers and locks, destruction of paper records, statements requiring staff to sign off on responsibility of customer privacy (and the consequences for not complying j, grad verification of customer provided data with Online Utility Exchange already in place. I and the two staff working with the Online Utility Exchange database reviewed the MMUA template and identified the needed tailoring for our use. Included is the proposed policy for your review. It has been reviewed by our attorney as well. Staff recommends that the commission adopt the policy.