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We now continue with the last segment of our email series discussing the seventh and eighth Identity KAOS principles which are the building blocks of the Identity Diet program for creating customized identity protection plans. The seventh and eighth principles for protecting identities suggest securing and sharing with caution our personal information. We have thus far discussed six of the eight identity protection principles which had to do with identifying, locating, documenting, assessing, categorizing and monitoring our personal and exploitable information. The seventh Identity KAOS principle suggests securing our personal information based on the assessment of our unique identity theft risks.. The security measures of our exploitable information depend largely on what information poses the greatest risk and how frequently we use the information. For example, various property titles such as car titles are not used very often and therefore can be locked away in a secure cabinet even away from our household such as in a bank lockbox along with other less frequently used identity components such as the family trust documents. On the other hand, account statements, checkbooks and other more frequently used documents can be stored away in an easily accessible and secure area within the household. Some of our decisions will also depend on our individual budgets and risk tolerance. The last identity protection principle suggests sharing our information with caution. Most often, we tend to share some of our information in the presence of other people, online, and with multiple parties without thinking about the consequences. Some of these actions are not reversible and once information is shared with others, it can never be fully recovered, or at least not to our knowledge. For example, if you recover a lost laptop which included many personal information without the proper computer security measures such as a passcode or encryption, how can you ever be one hundred percent sure that your information was not copied on another device or online? The Identity Diet book provides further details regarding the eight identity protection principles and many practical solutions which can benefit you. Also, the online Identity Diet program provides an option for a comprehensive analysis of your profile risks. You can also take a short test on IdentityDiet.com to learn about some of your risks and see how the customized plan can help you with a comprehensive assessment, education and support. Identity Protection Articles Consumer Articles Dead Boy Identity - The reported news of a stolen dead boy identity illustrates how dead persons’ identities can also be stolen and misused in a variety of ways even years after the persons are passed on. Business Articles Organized Medicare Fraud - This organized Medicare fraud is reportedly the largest case apprehended which involved many shadow clinics, stolen identities of many doctors and Medicare patients, and over $100 million in claims. Passport Privacy Violation -The US State Department continues to uncover other passport privacy violation cases of their workers breathing too closely into the passport information of famous figures. Until next time, be identity safe, |