The Ongoing Critical Threats Created by Identity Fraud: An Action Plan

Much has happened since the 2003 publication of Identity Fraud: A Critical National and Global Threat and yet much is still the same. There is a greater awareness of the problem, as indicated by the number of conferences focused on identity theft, the amount of press on the topic, and the increase in legislative activity. However, we continue to struggle with the ramifications of the use and risks of data in an information society and its potential implications for identity fraud. The possibility that there is a correlation between data misuse and identity fraud has been exacerbated by the heavily publicized recent corporate and governmental security breaches that have involved the loss or theft of personal data. As a result, the debate on the responsible use of personal identifier information for making decisions in the areas of commerce, law enforcement, and national security has intensified. The challenges of privacy and security in this new era remain the same. This paper follows the structure of the earlier one, maintaining the same headings for consistency purposes. In each section, there is discussion of what has occurred since 2003, what gaps remain, and what the research agenda should be to close those gaps. Examples of this research are suggested.