NY Lawmakers To Study Best Ways To Stop Identity Theft

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — New York state lawmakers say they want to make sure the state is doing everything it can to protect residents from identity theft.

A state Senate committee plans to hold a hearing Thursday in Albany to learn more about the problem and the best ways to protect personal information.

The hearing comes after a massive breach at the credit monitoring firm Equifax exposed sensitive information belonging to 143 million Americans — a number that includes some 8 million New Yorkers.

The topic is of long interest to lawmakers, who scheduled Thursday's hearing before the Equifax breach occurred.

Attorney General Eric Schneiderman has opened an investigation into the breach to determine what happened. He's also asked other credit monitoring firms to say what they're doing to keep consumer information safe.