ID Theft On The Rise, So Are Misguided Reactions
from the bad-medicine dept
The increasing rate of identity theft -- or at least its increased media coverage -- has consumers worried the world over. But a survey in the U.K. shows that what people are doing with these legitimate concerns leaves something to be desired. For starters, their fears of identity theft are causing some of them to completely cease their online shopping and banking. How this will help protect them from dumpster diving or a major security breach is anyone's guess. Indeed, most identity theft probably occurs offline, rather than online. Still, survey respondents were four times more likely to worry about online checkouts than what companies do with their data. What else do they think should be done? More than half the respondents said the government's proposed ID card would best protect them against identity theft, ignoring that it would probably make it easier to steal someone's identity by providing thieves with a single, simple point of failure. But of course, that would be an offline concern, and no one seems all too concerned about that. It all seems like just another case of misguided security fears.
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
How about kiddie cops?
http://forum.japantoday.com/Akita_Hires_6%2Dyear%2Dold_Police_Officers/m_452058/tm.htm
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Cops Don't Care
[ link to this | view in thread ]