What a Tangled Web We Weave: Identity Theft and the Internet (From Dot.cons: Crime, Deviance and Identity on the Internet, P 86-104, 2003, Yvonne Jewkes, ed. -- See NCJ-199525)

• NCJ Number: 199531
• Author(s): Emily Finch
• Date Published: 2003
• Length: 19 pages
• Sale Source: Willan Publishing
• Publication Format: Book (Softbound)
• Publication Type: Issue Overview
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This chapter examines the various ways in which the Internet facilitates identity theft that can cause varying degrees of harm to the person whose identity has been assumed.

Abstract

"Identity theft" involves the misuse of information that is specific to an individual in order to convince others that the impostor is the individual, effectively passing oneself off as someone else. The Internet provides unparalleled opportunities for those who seek a new identity to access the necessary information. Although many Internet users are cautious about the safety of Internet transactions that require them to provide their debit or credit card details, there is apparently an almost reckless disregard by Internet users for basic security precautions in relation to the publication of any other personal information on the Internet. Detailed information on individuals may be available on personal or workplace Web sites as well as through professional organizations of which the individual is a member. In addition, information may be posted about individuals by third parties for a range of reasons, and many organizations include searchable databases on their Web site that may yield information about potential victims of identity theft. Information has become a valuable commodity, and some Web sites are dedicated solely to trading in personal information. In addition to providing information that facilitates the assumption of another person's identity, the Internet also makes it easy to use that information for harming the individual whose identity is assumed. Businesses have responded to the expansion of the Internet by offering online services that provide impostors with the opportunity to engage in fraudulent conduct "at arms' length." In order to eliminate identity theft, it would be necessary to reconstruct the entire system of identification that is currently in place. It may be appropriate to consider placing limitations on the availability of personal information about individuals regardless of their source. This chapter concludes by considering the legislative approach to identity theft in the United States and comparing this with the position in the British criminal justice system. Although well-crafted laws against identity theft may be useful, individuals must become more aware of the risk of identity theft and acquire the knowledge necessary to adopt security precautions required to protect their personal information.