Amendment may exempt veterinarians from Red Flags Rule

Washington, D.C. — An amendment to exempt certain businesses, including veterinarians, from the Red Flags Rule identity-theft-prevention guidelines is waiting for a look by a U.S. Senate committee.

The amendment passed the House in October 2009 and now waits for review in the U.S. Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Senate.

Currently, veterinarians will be subject to the Red Flags Rule as creditors. If the amendment passes, specific businesses — accountants, lawyers and health-care practices and veterinarians — with 20 or fewer employees would be exempt. In addition, other business professionals could ask for exemptions from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) if the businesses know their customers or clients individually, if they only perform services in or around customers' residences or if they have not experienced incidents of identity theft or identity theft is rare for businesses of that type.

For more information, the Federal Trade Commission has designed a special Web site at www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/microsites/redflagsrule. The site includes a short animated video about how the safeguards work as well as information on exempt and nonexempt businesses and a do-it-yourself template for low-risk businesses.