Privacy/Security/ID Theft
To help keep your dealership safe and compliant, you need to protect sensitive customer information. Learn about best practices, potential pitfalls and emerging trends.
The Importance of Internal Security Safeguards
DATA BREACH STUDY SHOWS THE IMPORTANCE OF INTERNAL SECURITY SAFEGUARDS A recent 2009 data breach study conducted by Verizon's Risk Management Business in association with the U.S. Secret Se... Read More
New Risk-based Pricing Rule Alert for Auto Dealers
Effective January 1, 2011, dealers will be subject to the FTC's Risk-Based Pricing Rule. The idea behind this Rule is that certain customers get worse deals because of bad credit and they should ... Read More
A Simple Solution for Adverse Action Notices
Recently, a federal court in Ohio certified a class action against a dealership for failing to send adverse action notices to customers whose spot deals were unwound. Several hundred customers w... Read More
Blotter Chatter - Identity Theft at Car Dealership
...According to the police blotter, a car dealership reported that a man using a stolen identity purchased a new car worth over $51,365 with no money down... Click here to read the entire article... Read More
ID Theft Red Flags Rule: What Have Exams Uncovered?
Most Institutions Compliant; Minority Challenged to Formalize Prevention Programs It's been one year since federal regulators started examining banks and credit unions for compliance with the ... Read More
Bank of New York Mellon Employee Charged with ID Theft
Computer Technician Alleged to Have Used ID's to Steal $1.1 Million A computer technician has been indicted in New York Supreme Court, charged with stealing the identities of more than 150 Ban... Read More
FTC Extends Enforcement Deadline for Identity Theft Red Flags Rule
At the request of Members of Congress, the Federal Trade Commission is delaying enforcement of the "Red Flags" Rule until June 1, 2010, for financial institutions and creditors subject to e... Read More
Back-end Lender Repurchase Demands: The Hidden Land Mine in the Red Flags Rule for Auto Dealers
By now, most dealers are aware of the FTC's Red Flags Rule and the potential liability they face if they do not adopt and implement an Identity Theft Prevention Program required by the Rule. ... Read More
FTC Announces Expanded Business Education Campaign on "Red Flags" Rule
To assist small businesses and other entities, the Federal Trade Commission staff will redouble its efforts to educate them about compliance with the "Red Flags" Rule and ease compliance by... Read More
Cash For Clunkers Fraud Begins
TTAC just got a call from the Department of Transportation (DOT). The agency in charge of implementing the Cash for Clunkers program gave us a heads-up that the Car Allowance Rebate System is already... Read More
Recent Case Involving Fraud Alerts On Credit Files Shows How Broadly State UDAP Laws Can Be Interpreted
We've all seen the commercials for LifeLock, a so-called identity protection service. The company's founder posts his Social Security number on a big truck and drives around daring anyon... Read More
FTC Will Grant Three-Month Delay of Enforcement of ‘Red Flags’ Rule
FTC Will Grant Three-Month Delay of Enforcement of ‘Red Flags' Rule Requiring Creditors and Financial Institutions to Adopt Identity Theft Prevention Programs The Federal Trade Commiss... Read More
Identity Theft Case Study: Data Security Breaches
A recent U.S. Secret Service study concerning criminal identity theft from 2002-2006 revealed that 34% of the time, data used in the ID theft crime was stolen by a company employee, most often from a ... Read More
More Greedies than Stupids — Tips to help detect identity thieves
Originally published on dealer-magazine.com, May, 2008 In a land where chewing tobacco outsells chewing gum, where the tea is already sweetened and where pickles are fried, resides a general ... Read More
The "A-B-Cs" of Taking Credit Cards for Payment - 2008 Update
About three years ago, we published an article about taking credit and debit cards for payment. A lot has changed since then. Both the risks and obligations for merchants like aut... Read More
Top Compliance Concerns for 2008
There are risks, and there are risks. If you are late to an important appointment, meeting or date, you balance the risk of exceeding the speed limit and making the meeting on time versus the... Read More
Red Flags Rule: Manadatory Compliance Is Coming. Are You Prepared?
In this video, Randy Henrick, Associate General Counsel at DealerTrack, debriefs the audience on the recently enacted Red Flags Rule, and provides an overview of the steps dealers must take ...
Red Flags Rule: Mandatory Compliance Is Coming. Are You Prepared?
In this audio podcast, Randy Henrick, Associate General Counsel at DealerTrack, debriefs the audience on the recently enacted Red Flags Rule, and provides an overview of the steps dealers mu...
The Essentials of a Compliance Process
Signs are everywhere. Some give directions, others provide insights. Some warn, some warm. Some greet, some forbid. Bumper stickers are signs that are usually enlightening. I saw one on a minivan the... Read More
FTC Issues Final "Red Flags" Rules: A Short Guide To Compliance
After 15 months of deliberation, the federal banking regulators and the FTC have issued the final "red flags" identity theft prevention rule required by the 2003 FACT Act. The r... Read More
Consumer Credit File Security Freezes Present New Challenges to Auto Dealers
Data security breaches compromising consumers' personal information continued at a fast and furious pace in 2007. TJX Corporation (the parent of discount retailers such as Marshall ' s and TJ... Read More
Compliance 2007: The Year in Review
2007 was a year that presented new compliance challenges to dealers and posed important new ones for 2008, most notably the FTC Red Flags Rule that requires dealers to develop and implement an Identi... Read More
Mickey's, Straws, and SARs
Growing up as a military brat, I always looked forward to our annual monthly vacation spent with my grandparents and 60 cousins in a relaxed rural setting. This serene rural setting had a rambling c... Read More
New Data Security Risk: Paying Bank Costs to Reissue Credit Cards and Cover Unauthorized Charges
No doubt your dealership takes credit cards from customers to pay for goods and services. For things like vehicle service, parts, auto rentals, maybe even downpayments on vehicle purchases. It is lik... Read More
Oh No! I Just Got OFAC'd
On the TV show, 24, Jack Bauer is a super terrorist defeater extraordinaire. This season, he was released from a Chinese prison after being held captive for two years and immediately returned to prim... Read More
Compliance 2006: The Year in Review
As 2006 draws to a close, let's examine some of the key dealer compliance developments over the past 12 months. 2006 was a year in which new challenges emerged to traditional ways dealers do busi... Read More
Some Practical Tips for Avoiding Identity Theft at Your Dealership
The FTC, along with the federal banking regulators, recently published draft regulations on Identity Theft "Red Flags," these being facts predictive of identity theft. The regulations would... Read More
Preparing Privacy Notices: New Model Forms in Simple Languages
The Federal Trade Commission and five banking regulators have just completed a major study on written privacy notices. Not surprisingly, the study found that most privacy notices are loaded with lega... Read More
Security Breach
In 2003, California became the first state to enact a law requiring businesses to notify consumers if their personal, non-public information is wrongfully accessed from an unencrypted computer file o... Read More
Good Deeds Get Rewarded: Negligence Cases for Data Security Breaches
Doing the right thing by your customers is not only good policy. Sometimes it can keep you out of trouble even when everything else seems to be going wrong. How else to explain three recent negligen... Read More
Customer List Sharing Rules in the Electronic Age
A leads vendor recently told me that “cash is King, but information is God.” In this age of data mining and target marketing, getting and sharing customer lists for marketing purposes can... Read More
Data Security Incident Response Plans: A Necessary Part of Your Safeguards Data Security Program
2006 was another record year for data security breaches. By the middle of December, the Identity Theft Resources Center had tracked 306 incidents involving access to personal information on over 45 m... Read More
Identity Theft: Dealing with America’s Fastest-Growing Crime
Identity theft has been described as America’s fastest-growing crime. Over 9 million Americans were affected last year alone. If your dealership has not been involved in an identity theft claim... Read More
Data Security Breach Consumer Notification Laws Put New Obligations on Auto Dealers
In 2003, California became the first state to enact a law requiring notices to consumers if their personal information is wrongfully accessed from a computerized database. The law was passed in respo... Read More
The ABCs of Identity Theft Compliance
Identity theft has been described as America’s fastest growing crime. According to the Federal Trade Commission, identity theft affects approximately 10 million Americans per year. Perhaps you ... Read More