Option fights identity theft, fraudBY PAUL C. CURTIS TGI Staff Writer Effective Jan. 1, 2001, all Hawai’i drivers can have their Social Security numbers removed from their state driver licenses, regardless of the normal renewal date and for just the
Option fights identity theft, fraudBY PAUL C. CURTIS
TGI Staff Writer
Effective Jan. 1, 2001, all Hawai’i drivers can have their
Social Security numbers removed from their state driver licenses, regardless of
the normal renewal date and for just the normal renewal charge.
Only in
Hawai’i and the District of Columbia is a person’s Social Security number used
as his or her driver license number, as well.
In an effort to combat
identity theft and fraud, the Legislature passed a law mandating license
numbers in Hawai’i be different from Social Security when people renew their
licenses or apply for new ones. The law is effective at the start of next
year.
A companion bill which would have allowed motorists whose licenses
expire later than next year to get new license numbers before then failed to
win the Legislature’s approval earlier this year.
According to a
spokesperson in state Rep. Mina Morita’s Honolulu office, after the start of
2001, every licensed driver can either keep their Social Security number as
their driver license number (until the scheduled renewal date, when a new
number will be issued), or get a new number and license before the scheduled
renewal date, regardless of that date.
Those who opt for a new license
number before their scheduled renewal date will pay the prevailing renewal
charge.
Staff writer Paul C. Curtis can be reached at 245-3681 (ext.
252) and pcurtis@pulitzer.net
