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Consumers Offered Guidance to Navigate Data Security Breaches
(November 28, 2007)
NEWS
“In an era when government officials from President Bush to local sheriffs warn of the growing dangers of identity theft, the full Social Security numbers of untold numbers of Americans can be found in file rooms and on Web sites run by, well, governments.
-Bill Brubaker, “Online Records May Aid ID Theft: Government Sites Post Personal Data” (January 2, 2008)
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“…But for all of the drama over ID theft, what is not often pointed out is how rarely it results in actual financial loss for consumers…Law enforcement officials, who braced for a wave of financial fraud following all those well-publicized incidents, admit they’ve been struck by the lack of follow-through by the criminals.”
- Dean Foust, “ID Theft: More Hype Than Harm” (July 3, 2006)
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“…But while high-profile data breaches are common, there is no evidence of a surge in identity theft or financial fraud as a result. In fact, there is scant evidence that identity theft and financial fraud have increased at all. Even when computer networks are cracked into, and troves of personal information intentionally stolen, fraudsters can typically exploit only a tiny fraction of it.”
- Steve Lohr, “Surging Losses, but Few Victims in Data Breaches” (September 27, 2006)
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"Most privacy breaches turn out to be nonevents for the vast majority of people whose information has been exposed. Sometimes the criminals are after something other than information, such as when laptops are stolen for their resale value rather than the sensitive data they contain...So shutting down and re-opening accounts without any evidence that something's wrong is probably not warranted."
- Liz Pulliam Weston, "Privacy Breach Might Do No Harm" (October 28, 2007)
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“But while it’s clear something has to be done, we aren’t convinced that legislation is the way to go. Our biggest fear is that legislation will result in worse security by giving companies a security floor to meet that’s fine for 2007 but will feel helplessly outdated a few years from now.”
- Ben Worth, “Congress Moves on Data Security” (October 11, 2007)
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"There is a misperception that there is a one-to-one correlation between a data breach and ID theft," said Thomas Oscherwitz, vice president of government affairs and chief privacy officer at San Diego-based ID Analytics. In reality, "the mere fact that you are part of a data breach doesn't mean that you are a victim of ID theft," he said.
- Thomas Oscherwitz, ID Analytics (September 15, 2006)
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“File freezing is really the extreme measure,” says Rod Griffin, Experian's manager of public education. “It can be the right thing for a person who has an extreme issue with identity theft, but if you freeze your credit file, you're removing yourself from the credit marketplace.”
-“More People Are Freezing Credit Reports” (October 24, 2007)
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“But while it's certainly important to be vigilant against this potentially devastating crime, it also appears identity theft is too broadly defined and often misunderstood. As a result, some experts say, lawmakers and companies might be misdirecting their anti-fraud energies.”
- Brian Bergstein, Associated Press, “Beware the numbers hype about ID theft” (November 13, 2005)
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"A credit freeze isn't a silver bullet you can use to take out identity theft...So don't be lulled into a false sense of security by new credit bureau services that allow you to freeze your credit files." -- Broderick Perkins, "
- "Credit Freeze Doesn't Guarantee ID Theft Protection" (September 28, 2007)
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