The "Dumpster diving'' law, included in the 1999-2001 state budget, is designed to protect Wisconsin residents from having their identities stolen by people rummaging through trash. "Yes, it's standard practice for most businesses to shred,'' said Rep. Steven Foti, a Oconomowoc Republican and one of the law's sponsors. "But we want to make sure everybody does it, and this will help guarantee it.''

Under the law, businesses will only be able to throw out records containing information such as Social Security and credit card numbers if they shred or alter the documents to make personal data unreadable.

Businesses that don't properly destroy records can be fined up to $1,000 per violation when the law takes effect Feb. 1. Businesses also can be held liable in civil court for damages suffered by anyone whose personal information is improperly thrown away.

A similar federal law will be in place in November 2000.

Officials at some major Wisconsin businesses and smaller offices said the law requires something that is standard practice. "We've already done this previously,'' said Yvonne Mueller, office manager at Brookfield Surgical Associates in Milwaukee. "We don't throw anything away unless it's already destroyed, so nobody can pull anything off of them.''

Kim Kindschi, deputy executive vice president of the Wisconsin Bankers Association, said the law is a useful reminder to banks to vigilantly guard records. "It formalizes a process that most banks have had in place as a business practice,'' he said. "Consumer privacy ranks very, very high in terms of maintaining customer relations.''

The law is designed to give Wisconsin residents additional protection from identity theft, the unauthorized use of a person's name, address, birth date, Social Security number and mother's maiden name.

People who steal identities could obtain credit cards or loans in someone else's name, rent an apartment, get a cellular phone or buy a car or home - and then not pay the bills.

Federal officials estimate that tens of thousands of people across the country have their identities stolen each year. The 1998 federal law imposes penalties of up to 15 years in prison and $250,000 in fines on people convicted of identity theft.

A 50-state survey conducted in October by the Privacy Journal found that Wisconsin was among the 10 best states in protecting residents' privacy.

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