Identity Theft: Governments Have Acted to Protect Personally Identifiable Information, but Vulnerabilities Remain

Abstract

The loss of personally identifiable information, such as an individual's Social Security number, name, and date of birth can result in seriousharm, including identity theft. Identity theft is a serious crime that impacts millions of individuals each year. Identity theft occurs when such information is used without authorization to commit fraud or other crimes. While progress has been made protecting personally identifiable information in the public and private sectors, challenges remain. GAO was asked to testify on how the loss of personally identifiableinformation contributes to identity theft. This testimony summarizes (1) the problem of identity theft; (2) steps taken at the federal, state, andlocal level to prevent potential identity theft; and (3) vulnerabilities that remain to protecting personally identifiable information, includingin federal information systems.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jun 17, 2009
Accession Number
AD1181260

Entities

People

  • Daniel Bertoni

Organizations

  • United States Government Accountability Office

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Biomedical
  • Cyber

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Commerce
  • Computer Crime
  • Computers
  • Congress
  • Data Leakages
  • Department Of Defense
  • Department Of State
  • Department Of Veterans Affairs
  • Electronic Mail
  • Federal Law
  • Governments
  • Information Security
  • Information Systems
  • Law
  • Mobile Devices
  • Security
  • Security Personnel
  • State Law
  • United States
  • United States Government
  • Vulnerability

Readers

  • Cybersecurity.
  • Government and Public Administration Law.