NCJ Number
210694
Date Published
April 2004
Length
22 pages
Annotation
This paper presents highlights from a forum entitled, "Identity Theft: Where Do We Go From Here?" (held on February 10, 2004), along with ensuing discussions.
Abstract
The forum was hosted by the Payment Cards Center of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia and the Gartner Fellows Program. The forum was attended by representatives of the financial services and merchant industries, Internet service and technology providers, and regulatory and law enforcement agencies. Forum presentations and discussions examined the status of identity theft from the perspectives of these organizations. Topics addressed were introduced through four informal panel sessions that addressed the taxonomy of identity theft and payment fraud, perspectives on identity theft from the financial services industry, perspectives on identity theft from Internet merchants and service providers, and regulation and enforcement that targets identity theft. Three general themes emerged from these panel discussions: the definition and scope of identity theft and its impact on solutions; efforts to track identity theft and share data with law enforcement agencies; and the role of government in protecting victims of identity theft. This report summarizes the discussions of these themes. Some unresolved issues that remain to be addressed in subsequent discussions are whether regulatory and industry constituencies can establish uniform guidelines and rules that protect consumers given the differing definitions of identity theft; whether consumers understand the distinction between new-account identity theft and traditional payment fraud; how current data-sharing initiatives can better incorporate data from banks and also expand to include reporting from other affected industries; and issues in the implementation of the Federal Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act. 20 notes