Encinitas Municipal Code Art. 23 Identity Theft Prevention Policy

The Fair and Accurate Credit Transaction Act of 2003 (“FACTA”), Section 114, as implemented by the Red Flag Rules, 16 C.F.R. Section 681.2, issued by the Federal Trade Commission, along with other federal agencies, requires creditors of customer accounts to implement an Identity Theft Prevention Policy. Pursuant to the regulations, the District is a creditor because it provides services to customers prior to receipt of payment through customer accounts, including utility service accounts, which are maintained primarily for personal, family, or household purposes and involve multiple payments or transactions, and for which there is a reasonably foreseeable risk of identity theft. Therefore, the District is required to implement an Identity Theft Prevention Policy.

The purpose of this Identify Theft Prevention Policy (“Policy”) is to detect, prevent, and mitigate identity theft in connection with all customer accounts, taking into consideration the level of risk for identity theft given the District’s scope of services provided and the types of accounts. This Policy is created to identify patterns, practices, and specific activities that indicate the possible existence of identity theft, hereinafter referred to as “Red Flags.” The Policy sets forth the procedures for detecting Red Flags and responding to Red Flags when discovered.

(Res. No. 2020-02, adopted 5/20/20)

The following definitions apply to this Article:

“Customer account”

shall mean a utility service account or other account provided by the District that constitutes a “covered account” under the Red Flag Rules.

“Identity theft”

shall mean a fraud committed or attempted using the personal identifying information of another person without his/her authority.

“Personal identifying information”

shall mean information that may be used to identify a specific person, including, but not limited to, a social security number, date of birth, government issued driver’s license or identification number, government passport number, unique biometric data such as fingerprints or physical appearance, any unique electronic identification number, telephone number or address.

“Red Flag”

shall mean a pattern, practice or specific activity that indicates the possible existence of identity theft as defined in the Red Flag Rules, and as specifically enumerated in this Article.

(Res. No. 2020-02, adopted 5/20/20)