Executive Summary
[Please note: References are linked to this page and can be viewed by clicking on the * throughout this document]
“My husband and I would
have survived better had our house burned to the ground, or if we had been
burglarized or robbed at gunpoint. There would have been less hassle, less
stress and less indignation,” she said. “It caused the death of our marriage
and of everything we’ve known to be safe and secure. I have no hope or faith or
trust in anybody anymore.” [An
Identity theft victim in Minnesota.]*
We have allowed identity theft to become this nation's worst crime wave primarily because of our inability to definitively identify anyone. The reason we can't identify anyone is we can no longer trust the documents we use for identity purposes. Fake driver's licenses, Social Security Cards, Military Identity cards, birth certificates, immigration documents, and an array of foreign identity documents etc., can all be purchased over the Internet.**These fake documents are of such good quality law enforcement, financial institutions, and enterprises of all sorts are unable to detect anyone using these fake documents.
Identity thieves now have access to identity information on most Americans and through the use of fake documents thieves can easily victimize and steal from almost anyone. Victims of identity theft are often crippled financially and while this is devastating what can be worse is when an identity thief uses fake identity documents when confronted by law enforcement. There have been many cases where victims of identity theft have also been prosecuted for crimes they did not commit.*
Our inability to definitively identify anyone has now become a major national security issue. For example, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) can’t be sure who is boarding an aircraft. The problem is most travelers use driver's licenses for identity purposes and TSA has no ability to detect a fake license.* What is most troubling is the recent Government Accountability Office (GAO) report to Congress* that tells our lawmakers how GAO investigators used fake identity documents to successfully apply for U.S. passports. We would be naïve if we thought terrorists, criminals of all kinds, and illegal aliens don’t know about this vulnerability.
We have allowed identity theft to become this nation's worst crime wave primarily because of our inability to definitively identify anyone. The reason we can't identify anyone is we can no longer trust the documents we use for identity purposes. Fake driver's licenses, Social Security Cards, Military Identity cards, birth certificates, immigration documents, and an array of foreign identity documents etc., can all be purchased over the Internet.**These fake documents are of such good quality law enforcement, financial institutions, and enterprises of all sorts are unable to detect anyone using these fake documents.
Identity thieves now have access to identity information on most Americans and through the use of fake documents thieves can easily victimize and steal from almost anyone. Victims of identity theft are often crippled financially and while this is devastating what can be worse is when an identity thief uses fake identity documents when confronted by law enforcement. There have been many cases where victims of identity theft have also been prosecuted for crimes they did not commit.*
Our inability to definitively identify anyone has now become a major national security issue. For example, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) can’t be sure who is boarding an aircraft. The problem is most travelers use driver's licenses for identity purposes and TSA has no ability to detect a fake license.* What is most troubling is the recent Government Accountability Office (GAO) report to Congress* that tells our lawmakers how GAO investigators used fake identity documents to successfully apply for U.S. passports. We would be naïve if we thought terrorists, criminals of all kinds, and illegal aliens don’t know about this vulnerability.
The reason we can't stop identity related crime is we can't adequately protect highly vulnerable information systems. These systems continue to be breached by hackers who in turn make large sums of money selling stolen identity information to identity thieves. We also can't stop identity thieves from using our stolen identity information to obtain fake identity documents and masquerade as us and steal from us.
What we can do is focus on ways to prevent identity thieves from making use of stolen identity information. The only way to do this is to provide the ability to verify the authenticity of identity documents when and wherever identity authentication is needed. The best solution is the establishment of an Identity Bank that assists each of us in assembling our identity documents from official sources. The Identity Bank, upon our request and upon our behalf, requests official copies of our identity documents and upon receiving them attests to their authenticity and places them in our Identity Bank accounts. Once these documents are in our account we are the only ones who have access to these documents which, for the first time, gives each of us full control and ownership of our identity information. When our identity needs to be verified we can authorize views of our authenticated identity documents anytime and anywhere.
The Identity Bank is the only solution that prevents identity theft. One of the simplest and likely one of the best identity theft prevention solution is through using the Identity Bank’s Social Security Number (SSN) Registry. This system allows those who have established their identity to register their SSN. Anyone, especially those who are engaged in a financial transaction, can access the Registry and, if the SSN has been registered, then the SSN owner's instructions are viewable. The instructions might require a phone number to be called before any financial transaction occurs. The SSN owner could also require entry of a code known only to the SSN owner. The identity thief will not know the correct code and will be quickly discovered once the SSN owner is called. The SSN Registry in wide use will save us billions of dollars each year by putting the identity thief out of business and, with nothing to sell, the hacker finds the same fate.
How we establish the Identity Bank that puts us in control of our identity information is described in my book An Identity You Could Own.
What we can do is focus on ways to prevent identity thieves from making use of stolen identity information. The only way to do this is to provide the ability to verify the authenticity of identity documents when and wherever identity authentication is needed. The best solution is the establishment of an Identity Bank that assists each of us in assembling our identity documents from official sources. The Identity Bank, upon our request and upon our behalf, requests official copies of our identity documents and upon receiving them attests to their authenticity and places them in our Identity Bank accounts. Once these documents are in our account we are the only ones who have access to these documents which, for the first time, gives each of us full control and ownership of our identity information. When our identity needs to be verified we can authorize views of our authenticated identity documents anytime and anywhere.
The Identity Bank is the only solution that prevents identity theft. One of the simplest and likely one of the best identity theft prevention solution is through using the Identity Bank’s Social Security Number (SSN) Registry. This system allows those who have established their identity to register their SSN. Anyone, especially those who are engaged in a financial transaction, can access the Registry and, if the SSN has been registered, then the SSN owner's instructions are viewable. The instructions might require a phone number to be called before any financial transaction occurs. The SSN owner could also require entry of a code known only to the SSN owner. The identity thief will not know the correct code and will be quickly discovered once the SSN owner is called. The SSN Registry in wide use will save us billions of dollars each year by putting the identity thief out of business and, with nothing to sell, the hacker finds the same fate.
How we establish the Identity Bank that puts us in control of our identity information is described in my book An Identity You Could Own.
For more information visit my website at: www.patrickkelly.com
