Identity Theft Debate

According to the network, Tech Target, Identity theft, also known as identity fraud, is a crime in which an imposter obtains key pieces of personally identifiable information, such as Social Security or driver's license numbers, in order to impersonate someone else. Identity theft has become a widely discussed topic throughout society. Recent advances in technology have led to global identity theft. While certain authorities have been trying to decrease the possibility of this occurring, personal privacy is still being invaded by internet criminals every day.

Identity theft has worsened in recent years, 16.7 million people were affected, making that a record high in 2017. The statistics showed that new technology needed to be implemented,

however most criminals were able to hack around the firewalls and avoid any new laws. Once the thieves obtain little information, it gives them a path to find more about the victims financial and personal lives (Kristof 1). A slight bit of information could lead to much worse when it comes down to identity theft. Identity theft has become much more difficult to prevent. Some argue that these situations need more attention from corporations and the government.
Furthermore, people’s personal and financial lives have been endangered and there must be significant change. Identity thieves are becoming more criminally sophisticated. This is shown through recent breaches in the data of Target and Equifax. A representative from Target proclaimed, “The thieves who stole massive amounts of credit and debit card information during the holiday season also swept up names, addresses, and phone numbers of 70 million customers, information that could put victims at greater risk for identity theft” (Yang 1). Although Target ranks as one of the worst data breaches ever, there has been more severe cases. A direct example of this is the breaching of Equifax data. Equifax had 143 million American consumer’s personal information stolen. They got a hold of driver's license numbers, security numbers, and credit card numbers (Gressin 1). A data breach impacts your life forever. What more justification for change is needed?
For example, a well known misuse of personal information recently occurred with the company Facebook. Cambridge Analytica is a political data company. They were hired by President Trump’s 2016 election campaign to gain access to private information on more than 50 million Facebook users. The firm supplied ways of identifying the personalities and influences of American voters. Christopher Wylie (former employee) was the one who reported Cambridge Analytica to the Senate Judiciary Committee, he informed them that the company used data to influence the election. Wylie also explained how he believed that Russia gained access to data of American voters as well (O'Sullivan 1). “Wylie highlighted how Cambridge University professor Aleksandr Kogan — who has told CNN he gathered information on 30 million Americans through his Facebook personality test app in 2014, which he then passed to Cambridge Analytica — made numerous trips to Russia—in part a result of his work with St. Petersburg University.” (O'Sullivan 1). This Facebook mayhem is a crucial example of privacy being violated through identity theft.
As a result, Governments are now acknowledging that hardships of when identities are stolen and are trying to fix them.

On the side of the very limited positive effects of identity theft is how laws are advancing to prevent future crimes. Western countries have already enforced laws regarding legal protections for personal data. In the USA, 48 states have even passed laws that require individuals to be notified if their information is tampered with. Hopefully all 50 states will obtain these laws as well. “Members of Congress are reintroducing data-breach protection proposals, and industry voices have suggested that the United States could have finally reached the “tipping point” that will lead to the creation of a single national data-breach notification standard ” (O’Connor 1). The European Union is also influencing many other countries such as Japan and Canada. They put in data protection laws that are now being followed by others around the world. Data protection laws are becoming more useful every day (O’Connor, 1). The worse identity theft is, the stricter the laws are

getting.
In addition, there are severe and consequential effects if your identity is stolen.

Identity theft makes it much more difficult to purchase big things, such as cars and houses (Bahney 2). A man named William Burnett has to worry about his thief throughout his daily life. “He now has a stack of mail from more than 30 companies that he's never done business with. All of them are notifying him that someone has tried to open a new account or new line of credit in his name.” (Bahney 1). Burnet even has to freeze his accounts. A credit freeze prevents anyone from being approved for credit or opening a new account in his name. It is the most effective way to stop this type of fraud, but now whenever he wants to make a big purchase, like a car or house, he has to get his freeze lifted. Also, Protection mechanisms, like lifelock or Wells Fargo, are extremely difficult to afford for the average individual. Not only is your money being stolen, but now you have to pay for your other money to be protected (Bahney 2). The negative effects don’t end here. Identity theft makes you life more complicated and adds stress that is not

needed.
To conclude, personal privacy is being invaded by criminals everyday. Although recent advances to technology have led to global identity theft, certain authorities have been trying to decrease this from happening. Overall, identity theft is a huge invasion of privacy that needs to be stopped in the very near future.