Want the CIA director's address? Get it for $26 online.

The Internet has become a worldwide playground for identity thieves. Some online sites will give out your bank account balance for about $300. At least a dozen sites sell Social Security numbers and other private data for a small fee. The really bad news is that not even top U.S. officials' private information is safe.

The California-based Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights says that for $26 each, it was able to purchase the Social Security numbers and home addresses for Central Intelligence Agency Director George Tenet; Attorney General John Ashcroft; Karl Rove, President Bush's chief political adviser; and other top administration officials.

The group said its ability to easily purchase this sensitive private data underscores the need for stronger protection of consumer data. It is calling for a strong national law on credit reporting that would still allow U.S. states to pass their own, perhaps tougher, privacy protections, such as the one recently passed in California. However, the House of Representatives passed its version of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) reanthorization in September, and the financial services industry is lobbying for quick passage of the bill because it would block states from imposing tougher consumer financial data privacy standards.

The measure, H.R. 2622, the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act, sponsored by Pep. Spencer Bachus (R-Ala), Rep. Darlene Hooley (D-Ore.), and others, features several provisions designed to protect consumers from financial identity theft and improve the accuracy of consumer records. For example, the measure seeks to

* place alerts in consumer credit reports to prevent identity thieves from opening accounts in their names

* block information from being given to a credit bureau and from being reported by a credit bureau if such information results from identity theft

* give consumers the right to a free copy of their credit report

* restrict access to consumers' private health information

A portion of the bill also would extend a current pre-emption of tougher state privacy laws such as California's. The California measure represents some of the strongest financial protections in the United States by requiring financial institutions and insurance companies to get consumers' permission before sharing consumers' personal data with affiliates. Experts say stopping the trafficking of information among corporate affiliates is key to protecting information because some companies have hundreds of businesses under their corporate umbrella.

California's law, which takes effect in July 2004, will require customer permission before financial institutions share with an unaffiliated company information such as bank balances or spending habits. The bill also includes a provision under which consumers could bar a company from sharing information with an affiliate that is in a different line of business.