The Myth of ‘Identity Theft’
10th March 2011
There is no such thing as ‘identity theft’.
Let me repeat that.
THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS ‘IDENTITY THEFT’.
Theft means that somebody takes something from another person. If you ‘identity’ is ‘stolen’, do you become anonymous? Of course not. You still have your ‘identity’.
What is commonly called ‘identity theft’ is merely fraud that depends on one person successfully masquerading as another. The reason this works is because remote transactions, such as that over the Internet, depend upon proofs of identity that have no natural connection to whoever is being impersonated; it’s just information, and person X can present information relevant to person Y, if he knows it, just as easily as person Y can. This is why driving licenses and most other forms of identification have pictures on them. (This is why Democrats fight requirements for picture ID for voting; they want to make it easier, not harder, to impersonate other people for voting purposes. They won’t admit it, but that’s all it is.)
So why do they call it ‘identity theft’? To escape blame. If your ‘identity’ was ‘stolen’ and that information was used to clean out your bank account, then the term ‘identity theft’ lets the bank off the hook. ‘Oh, well, your identity was stolen and along with it your money. Just one of those unfortunate things in which we were just as much the victims as you were. A terrible thing for which we are not to blame. Sucks to be you. Have a nice day.’
That’s the bottom line. Institutions, especially financial institutions, don’t want to spend what it takes to do proper security, because a lot of customers will whine about what a hassle it is. So they sock it to the people who are defrauded because, let’s face it, they’re not going to be customers of the bank anymore anyway.
So the next time you hear somebody use the phrase ‘identity theft’, make sure you still have your wallet. Your identity is not at risk, just your money.