Education is Key to Preventing Identity Theft

Consumers Need Education and a Way to Make Their Information Useless to Identity Thieves

The ubiquity of Social Security numbers helps to fuel identity theft, as many reports have noted. Some experts have suggested that the solution is for consumers to keep their Social Security numbers secret, The Associated Press reported in an article exploring the limitations of some fraud prevention services. But the days when consumers could keep their Social Security numbers private are in fact long gone, said Robert Siciliano, widely televised and quoted identity theft protection expert and chief security analyst for One You Security, LLC, a firm that helps to insulate its customers' financial identitie.

"Privacy is an illusion," said Siciliano. "To pursue privacy or secrecy as a solution to identity theft is to fundamentally misunderstand the problem. It is no longer possible for consumers to keep their Social Security numbers secret; for a long time, these have in fact been easily available to thieves, who obtain the all-important digits from hacked computer databases and even from loose documents in recycling bins. A better approach is to offer a service that not only prevents new financial accounts from being opened without clients' consent, but also provides continual consumer education to help clients protect their own identities proactively."

On May 22, The Associated Press reported on the various pending and existing lawsuits against LifeLock and its founder. Questions have surfaced around LifeLock's effectiveness, the article reported, leading even the Experian credit bureau to file suit in California. "Security experts say complaints about the company reinforce the time-honored wisdom of keeping [the] Social Security number secret," according to the AP's report.

But the advice is misguided, according to Siciliano, who noted that One You Security takes a multipronged approach to identity theft protection and concerns itself not with the impossible-to-attain secrecy of its customers' easily obtainable Social Security numbers.

"No protection exists that is 100 percent effective against every type of identity theft," said Chris Harris, president and CEO of One You Security. "The key is to manage the threat to greatly minimize it. What if an identity thief couldn't use a stolen identity? One You strives to rob thieves of their ability to use Social Security numbers as a basis to steal consumers' financial identities. Identity thieves have enjoyed a boon because of the usefulness of consumers' Social Security numbers as universal identifiers. One You's identity theft protection service works to render those digits useless to thieves."
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