Stopping a thief from grabbing your personal or financial information is the goal of Snoqualmie's new identity theft prevention program.

All cities were mandated by the Federal Trade Commission to have ID theft program up and running as of May 1.

While some cities had to scramble to get their programs ready in time, Snoqualmie instituted its version in March, Finance Officer Donya Gregson said.

Snoqualmie's new policies protect residents' utility and permit information. Certain changes can only be made in writing, and after processing, personal information is shredded.

The city's online payment providers, ubpayments.com and mypermits.com, have also been charged with following the new city policy.

The protection policies help customers of the city feel more confident that their information won't fall into the wrong hands, Gregson said. Protecting that information means working smarter, not harder.

"It's a matter of paying close attention to what you do," Gregson said. "Accuracy is important. It's one of those practices where you have to think about it from the beginning to the end of the process"

Moving forward, Gregson plans to visit other city policies to ensure information is safe.

"As we develop the ability to take credit card payments at city hall, we're going to ensure that is a covered area, and that we have procedures in place for handling those discretely."

Contact Snoqualmie Valley Record Editor Seth Truscott at editor@valleyrecord.com or 1-425-888-2311.

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