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Justin Yurek, president of ID Watchdog, spoke before Congress recently on the roll Social Security numbers play in identity theft, as well as some idea on minimizing this problem.
"Despite becoming the de facto standard, there have been very few formal development efforts for the protection of this important identifier, resulting in a dangerous imbalance between the importance and accessibility of the SSN on one hand, and the protections afforded to the individual on the other," Yurak said, "With identity theft, the thief and the victim are seldom in the same place, and as such it is imperative that disparate law enforcement agencies have the means to share information and resources."
ID Watchdog is currently the only identity protection company that offers its customers with 360-degree identity protection. They do this by tracking not only credit reports but also criminal, medical and social security records and providing legal assistance in the case of a breach in information.
SSN's have provided a convenient way for the government to track people throughout their lives in all types of records. Now the FTC hopes to offer a solution to the problem of identity theft through the use of social security numbers.
"There is no question that we need stronger protection for Social Security numbers to combat the growing crime of identity theft, "said Chairman Rep. Michael R. McNulty, "Identity theft can destroy an individual's or family's financial well begin with a touch of a button. We must begin to place some common-sense limits on the use of SSN by government and business in order to ensure the privacy of the information and prevent theft."
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