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Hello and thank you for reading this issue of the Identity Protection Insights. Today, I wanted to briefly talk about the root cause of the identity theft which I understand is a controversial subject. Simply stated, I believe that the major root cause of the identity theft is identity obesity and mismanagement. Let me explain what I mean by identity obesity and how we can reduce the identity theft risks. First, we need to understand that identity theft will never completely go away and we can only attempt to reduce the risks. Second, we are only partially in control of our identity protection. Once our identity components such as social security numbers or passwords are shared with others, we lose most of the control. Our collective actions of excessive collection, creation, duplication, retention and sharing of personal information lead to identity obesity and mismanagement, thus increasing the risk of identity theft. This is the identity theft root cause I am referring to. That being said, why is it that people who want to protect their identities, sign up for identity monitoring services thinking that all their problems will suddenly go away instead of looking at their own actions and noticing how their actions might contribute to their identity theft risks? Does advertising play a role? You bet. Identity monitoring is a good service to reinforce our identity protection efforts and to monitor what's no longer in our control, but it does not address identity obesity negligence and the identity theft root cause. The real solution is more awareness and education. Read the Total Identity Protection article for more information. Announcements The deadline for becoming members of the Identity Management Institute and grandfathering period for CIPA and CIRM certifications at no charge is fast approaching (August 31, 2009). Visit the IMI website for more information.
Thank You and Be Identity Safe, |