Newsday du lieu suivant : New York, New York • 26

CITY STATE A26 s' w- 'v Plans to introduce bill to limit release of Social Security numbers to cut down on credit bank fraud said Westlaw was providing best tool an identity thief can use like giving a murderer the murder weapon or a burglar his burglary Solove who wrote a book on the subject called Digital said anyone obtaining a Social Security number and a birth date would find it relatively easy to sign up for credit cards or access bank accounts Social Security number is the magic he said Solove said he know of any specific case of identity theft traceable to Westlaw but said such a connection would be hard to prove i Westlaw obtains data from credit companies and public records Schumer said charged had the potential to do far more damage to privacy than the Georgia-' based firm ChoicePoint That firm has notified nearly 145000 people across the country that their personal data may have been compro- mised O---' To illustrate his point' Schumer said his staffers had used Westlaw to obtain the Social Security numbers of various prominent people including Paris Hilton Vice President Dick Cheney and movie stars Jennifer Aniston and Brad Pitt At a news conference he displayed their printouts with the last four digits of the Social Security numbers concealed gives virtually unfettered and unnecessary access to mil lions of Social Securi- ty numbers all at the touch of a Schumer said makes identity theft as easy as operating a In a statement parent company Thomson West said it shared Schumer's concerns about identity theft but denied that it was contributing to the problem public records information the senator is concerned with is available to a very limited number of specialized customers such as legislative regulatory and government agen-' law enforcement sndhome-land it said A company official who spoke on condition of ano- nymity said only subscribers who meet strict guidelines and show a legitimate need are allowed access to Social Security numbers Fewer than 10 nongovernment entities mostly insurance companies have such access he said But the official acknowledged that within such an office any employee who had access to the proper password could retrieve- such data An academic expert on information privacy issues Daniel Solove said services such as Westlaw did offer a potential source for those illegitimately seeking personal data Solove a George -Washington University law professor N-'V suspect i BY KEN FIREMAN WASHINGTON BUREAU WASHINGTON The well-known legal research service Westlaw goes of its way to make identity theft by providing access to million of Social Security numbers Sen Charles Schum-er said yesterday Schumer (D-NY) said he would introduce legislation to regulate information providers such as Westlaw which he BY HERBERT LOWE LUIS PEREZ AND PETE BOWLES STAFF WRITERS As family and friends said prayers for German Cabrera yesterday the Washington Heights man accused of gunning down Cabrera on a Chelsea subway platform last week was arraigned on murder charges in Manhattan Criminal Court Elio Cruz 33 was charged with second-degree murder in the slaying of Cabrera 26 his boyfriend who was fatally shot Saturday morning as he and wife Belke Pena stepped off a subway train at the West 18th Street station not' Daniel Scott attorney told reporters after the arraignment be a suspect There is the classic triangle and what points the finger at him But they have to prove Cruz who was arrested Wednesday at a midtown hotel where his brother works was ordered held without bail by Judge Domna Recant Prosecutors said Cruz who is from Ecuador had told his employers at the Marriott Hotel that he planned to leave town after collecting back pay Scott said Cruz a graduate of George Washington High School who has lived here for more than 20 years is a naturalized citizen with close family ties in Manhattan and was not planning to leave the area He said his client recently was laid off as a room service waiter through no fault of his own According to police Cruz be- came angry when he learned his wife of 17 years was romantically involved with Cabrera and in recent weeks Cruz had begun threatening him Meanwhile' grieving relatives of Cabrera joined by representatives of two community groups condemned the Metropolitan Transporta- tion Authority as not having sufficient safety measures at subway stations 1 young man should be alive Awilda Cordero director of Bronx Emergency Relief said at a news conference at wake at Ortiz Funeral Home hi Washington Heights William Rodriguez of the Hispanic Victims Group said he and Cordero requested a meeting with MTA officials to discuss improved safety procedures in the system the crime could not have been prevented but death could have been Rodriguez said v- -The part-time booth nearest the victim was dosed complicating police and EMT efforts to reach him Police eventually used a commuter's MetroCard to get inside to try to save the wounded Cabrera As a result the MTA yesterday delivered MetroCards for all the 37000 police officers -f MTA chairman Peter Ka-likow said the shooting could have occurred anywhere fact that somebody was murdered in the subway of course distresses 1 us but a week earlier somebody was murdered on Madison Avenue" he said referring to the Feb 4 slaying of Inessa Ivanov 39 of Mid wood who was husband who then turned the gun on himself think those murders were not Kalikow said "They just happened to take place at that PHOTO BY JASON DECROW conference at his son's wake Dfonisio Cabrera with a photo of his son German Cabrera at a news TT -T.