by Thomas C. Greene

Register [UK]

03/23/05

March 2005 might make history as the apex of identity theft disclosures. Privacy invasion outfit ChoicePoint, payroll handler PayMaxx, Bank of America, Lexis Nexis, several universities, and a large shoe retailer called DSW all lost control of sensitive data concerning millions of people. Credit card and other banking details, names, addresses, phone numbers, Social Security numbers, and dates of birth have fallen into the hands of potential identity thieves. The news could not be worse. ... There is an important observation here that's worth emphasizing: none of these cases involved online transactions. Many people innocently believe that they're safe from credit card fraud and identity theft in the brick and mortar world.

Nothing could be farther from the truth. The vast majority of incidents can be traced to skimming, dumpster diving, and just plainstupidity among those who 'own' our personal data...

http://tinyurl.com/6ple5


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp