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Social Security Administration: Actions Needed to Strengthen Processes for Issuing Social Security Numbers to Children GAO-05-115, January 31, 2005, Highlights. “In fiscal year 2004, the Social Security Administration (SSA) issued about 4.2 million original Social Security numbers (SSN) and 2 million SSN replacement cards to U.S.-born children. Despite its narrowly intended purpose, today, young children …
By Chris Jay Hoofnagle, associate director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, Putting Identity Theft on Ice: Freezing Credit Reports to Prevent Lending to Impostors. “This article argues that the third actor, credit granting institutions, are culpable for a large number of identity theft cases. Institutions enable identity theft by maintaining lax credit granting practices, …
From the Washington Post, ID Theft Scam Hits D.C. Area Residents From ChoicePoint: Update on Identity Fraud Notification, 02/21/2005. This announcement includes a chart with a state-by-state accounting of the current number of victims of this scam, addresses the company’s plan to participate in the investigation of the fraud, and its plans to “guard against …
From today’s Atlanta Journal Constitution, Checklist failed ChoicePoint: “Identity theft fallout may include litigation, access limits.” From the WSJ, via Detnews.com, ID fraud triggers scrutiny: Industry could face new rules following reported theft of personal data of up to 400,000 people. From AP, 38 AGs send open letter to ChoicePoint . See also the initial …
From the press release, Office of the Illinois Attorney General, February 16, 2005: “Joined by several other state Attorneys General, Attorney General Lisa Madigan has written to a Georgia company that collects vast amounts of personal and financial data urging that the company immediately notify any Illinoisans whose information may have been breached following the …
Updates today on news earlier this week, Data Mining Aggregator Reports Widespread ID Theft, disclose that the scope of the ID theft scam may involve half a million individuals around the country, not just the 35,000 in California as initially reported. Related resources: Defendant In Major ID-Theft Case Found Guilty Choicepoint Fraud Highlights Need for …
From the National Association of State Chief Information Officers (NASCIO), Welcome to the Jungle: The State Privacy Implications of Spam, Phishing and Spyware (15 pages, PDF).
Reports today from MSNBC, Reuters (via CNN Money), and New.com on the theft of between 30,000 to 35,000 personal digital data profiles of California residents, which occured last fall. Related postings.
“This report (19 pages, PDF) provides a detailed, comprehensive analysis of identity fraud in the United States, in order to better understand methods for prevention, detection and resolution. Co-released by Javelin Strategy & Research and the Better Business Bureau, this report is issued as a longitudinal update to the Federal Trade Commissions (FTC) 2003 Identity …
Press release: “Today IBM announced the results from its 2004 Global Business Security Index Report and provided an early look at potential security threats in 2005. Based on early indicators, a new and troubling trend this year may be the aggressive spread of viruses and worms to handheld devices, cell phones, wireless networks, and embedded …
From the FTC press release: “The Federal Trade Commission has launched the seventh annual National Consumer Protection Week (NCPW), February 6-12, 2005, in cooperation with federal, state and local agencies, and national advocacy organizations committed to consumer protection and education. This year’s theme, “Identity Theft: When Fact Becomes Fiction,” focuses on minimizing the risk of …
As a follow-up to my posting yesterday, FTC Releases Annual Report on Consumer Complaints – ID Theft Tops List, this Washington Post article (reg. req’d) highlights that the D.C. metropolitan area led the country in the number of complaints to the FTC.
