Iowa’s bureau of vital statistics is working to combat identity theft. Jill France is bureau chief for the agency within Iowa’s Department of Health, and explains the pilot project will put various agencies in closer contact to verify your state-issued documents like birth certificates and photo-ID. Initially there will be three states involved in the project to verify “identity documents.” She says they’re setting up a pilot with the state Department of Transportation, to confirm that a state-issued birth certificate brought in when someone applies to get a driver’s license is a legitimate document. A final part of the pilot program will be giving the health department in turn the ability to verify that a driver’s license brought in to prove identification is valid. She says using tools available to the agencies and the things law allows them to do can be used to secure people’s information. In the past, criminals have gotten the birth certificates of people who died, to forge false identification, and this program should close that loophole for identity theft.