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Identity Theft

By Matthew Righetti
July 13, 2006

Recent high-profile data breaches of online retailers, banks, government agencies, and data brokers have exposed the vast potential for damage to consumers when their personal information is illegally sold or inadvertently released into the public domain. Ironically, these breaches have occurred despite the existence of comprehensive federal and state legislative schemes aimed at safeguarding personal data.

Federal legislation passed during the past several decades has sought to protect personal information housed in both government agencies and private corporations. These statutes include the Privacy Act, Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, Truth in Lending Act, Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, Drivers Privacy Protection Act, Video Privacy Protection Act, Electronic Communications Privacy Act, Cable Communications Policy Act, Telephone Consumer Protection Act, and the Fair Credit Reporting Act ('FCRA').

Yet, despite the increase in regulation and monitoring, recent statistics demonstrate that identity theft and consumer fraud continue to occur unabated. According to the Federal Trade Commission ('FTC'), identity theft complaints represented nearly 37% of the 686,683 complaints filed with the commission in 2005. Notably, identity theft complaints comprised a greater percentage of complaints in previous years. The total number of complaints, however, is steadily increasing. The FTC estimates that identity theft complaints filed with the commission have grown from 215,177 in 2003, to 246,847 in 2004, to 255,565 last year.

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