Opinity Weblog: Identity Theft, in Arizona & Elsewhere

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Identity Theft, in Arizona & Elsewhere

The New York Times tells us that Arizona is the Land of Identity Theft. And two of its reporters go on to tell us quite a bit about how this works.

However, they don't appear to have figured out the numbers:

"According to a Federal Trade Commission survey in 2003, about 10 million Americans — 1 in 30 — had their identities stolen in the previous year, with losses to the economy of $48 billion. Subsequent surveys, by Javelin Strategy and Research, a private research company, found that the number of victims had declined to nine million last year but that the losses had risen to $56.6 billion.

In Arizona, one in six adults had their identities stolen in the last five years, about twice the national rate, according to the Javelin survey."

In short, the FTC says 1 in 30 of us have had our identities stolen, while Javelin Strategy and Research says that the 1 in 6 rate in Arizona is twice the national rate--which would, I believe, mean that the national rate, according to Javelin, is 1 in 12. If the FTC is correct about the national rate and Javelin is correct about Arizona, then the rate of identity theft in Arizona is 5 times the national rate, not 2 times.

Whatever the national rate, Arizona law enforcement officials recommend that we "shred all documents"--weird advice--and "avoid giving Social Security numbers or bank account numbers to strangers over the telephone or the Internet." (And if you hear Bart Simpson saying, "Doh!" well ...)

While I'm dissing this article, let me take the opportunity to blow a raspberry at the whole journalistic project of invoking "identity theft" while making scary faces. The phrase is, admittedly, common usage, but while it sounds metaphysically dire and psychically disabling, the practice it refers to could more properly be called credentials theft than identity theft. To put it another way, the thieves validate themselves as the entities authorized to make transactions--generally, those involving purchases or withdrawal of money. Our identities remain pretty much in place: that is, our spouses don't throw us out of the house, our dogs caper happily when we come home, that guy down the street continues to stare blankly at us for no reason that we can imagine.

Be all that as it may, The Times goes on to tell us:

But the real problem, many officials and consumer advocates say, lies elsewhere. In recent years banks have campaigned energetically to extend more credit to more people with fewer hassles, and retailers and consumers have embraced instant, near-anonymous access to credit.

Perhaps it is. But this kind of "many officials and consumer advocates" reporting (especially combined with the contradictory arithmetic already noted) gives me little confidence in the strength of the diagnosis (or the good sense of the Times reporters). "Many" is a notorious weasel word, and "officials," well, that could include Parade Grand Marshal, Presiding Poohbah of the Sons of Beowulf, Treasurer of the Society for the Criminally Insane ...

In fact, the "real problem" is cited over and over in the article--which is that state and local agencies are putting public records online without apparent thought for the consequences. One thief "pulled up a local divorce document listing the parties' names, addresses and bank account numbers, along with scans of their signatures." While the agency that posted these documents may have had purely benign intentions, the idea is inherently ... lunatic.

In Phoenix, the county recorder's office posts 8,000 to 10,000 documents a day. Most are innocuous, but some, including divorce decrees and tax lien records, have sensitive information.

"I'm not insensitive to people's fear," said Helen Purcell, the county recorder. "I have the same fear. My information is out there, too." But it is far too late to start editing Social Security numbers or other data from the county Web site, she said. "We have 100 million documents out there now."

Well, hell, folks, no wonder you're leading the country in identity (or credentials) theft.

However, they're hardly alone in their fecklessness. Across the country, other widescale security lapses routinely occur that are outside the scope of any individual to prevent.

Data breaches in the last year have exposed the personal information of more than 80 million Americans, according to the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, a nonprofit organization that follows identity theft. On May 3, a thief stole computer disks holding the names, Social Security numbers and other information of 26.6 million veterans from the residence of a Department of Veterans Affairs employee who had taken the data home without authorization. In most states, organizations are not required to tell consumers if their identities have been compromised.

"It's the sharing of data without necessary safeguards that enables this crime to grow as it has," said Torin Monahan, an assistant professor of justice and social inquiry at Arizona State University.

Which means that you can shred all the documents you can find--even those of the guy next door--and stay mum about critical personal data online and on the phone, but federal, state, and local agencies, along with the occasional corporation, will continue to give your information away, lose it, or get it stolen.

Technorati Tags: identity theft, Arizona, public documents online, New York Times

May 30, 2006 | Permalink

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May 30, 2006

Identity Theft, in Arizona & Elsewhere

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