Because of ubiquitous television ads, the public
believes that identity theft is a joke. It is a woman
talking with a man's voice, a banjo playing waiter, a
victimless crime with zero liability.
Nothing could be further from the truth! Identity Theft has become a "Managed Risk", no one can prevent this insidious crime; they can only install safe guards. What it is in fact, is an insidious crime that is exploding, that costs businesses today in excess of 50 Billion Dollars per year, results in the permanent corruption of its victims files in many cases, ruining their lives in extreme cases and causing potentially the larges liability for businesses, and governmental bodies since asbestosis and tobacco litigation.
Our
lives revolve around and are controlled by basically two
numbers, our Social Security number and our
Driver's license number. Our
Driver's License identity, social security identity,
medical identity, character/criminal identity, financial
identity
and synthetic identity revolve around those two numbers
and the databases that contain them.
Your numbers are better than loose cash as they can be
turned into cash, over and over again. Since they cannot
catch the thief, the government has decided to make
governmental and non-governmental entities liable for
the protection of the information and by extension, its
accuracy.
Red Flags Rule - Mandatory Compliance NOW - August 1, 2009
According
to a report of the President’s Identity Theft Task
Force, identity theft (a fraud attempted or committed
using identifying information of another person without
authority), results in billions of dollars in losses
each year to individuals and businesses. Identity
thieves use people’s personally identifying information
that creates havoc for consumers and businesses.
The Red Flags Rule will affect virtually all businesses.
Previous statutes like GLB Safeguards Rule and the HIPAA
Security rule have certain requirements, in many respects
concerning keeping data private.
The Red Flags Rule is about
protecting the integrity of the information you obtain,
preventing Identity Theft where possible, mitigating it when it
occurs and various compliance requirements of those covered by
the rule.
Wiley Rein, LLP
-
White Paper - Your Growing Exposure for Identity Theft Risks
If you are an associate interested
in having
a personalized version of this site.
This
book will take you beyond the glossy ads and the
television commercials and into the reality of being an
Identity Theft victim. There will be no men talking with
women’s voices, no superheroes coming up out of the
concrete to save you, but you will understand that your
identity is about more than just your credit history.
"From a practical risk management standpoint,
every business (and
government entity)
should
take appropriate risk management actions and seek
to meet the requirements and standards of consumer
privacy and data security laws,
whether or not it has a statutory obligation to
do so. Similarly, businesses and government
entities should also not take "the easy way out" and
seek to only protect that information which is
specifically identified as protected under the strictest
interpretations of the law.
There is a moral and
ethical obligation that attaches to the use and
possession of another's information.
Many forward-thinking companies have recognized that
information security and careful protection of
confidential consumer information is not only an
investment well worth making, but it can even provide a
significant competitive advantage.
Compliance is a choice, and in the Information Age,
where confidential information is the currency of
thieves, it is a choice that every entity should make
- large or small, public or private."
- Michael Barnett, CITRMS - CEO -
The Institute of
Fraud Risk Management, Inc.
