Our system is not perfect by any stretch of the imagination. The requirement of proof of address is, as you so indicate, a recent addition.
However, let's leave identity theft for a moment and consider some other impacts of the theft of financial records. How many of those 3.9 million accounts represent victims of domestic abuse? How many of those are hiding from their abusers? If the records were stolen, as opposed to misplaced, how many of them are now in danger? These financial records may also contain transaction histories. When you go to a doctor, do you pay by cash, or do you pay by credit card/debit card? How would you feel if a list of your family's doctor visits were to be posted on the internet? Transaction histories can be used to identify where you shop and when. Great information for a stalker, wouldn't you say? You go to the grocery store every Saturday afternoon. This is exactly the kind of information that is useful to a person planning to rob your home when you are not around. There are many such examples of how financial records, such as transaction histories, can be used in the planning and commission of criminal acts. It is not a pretty picture. The failure to adequately secure such records, particularly when copies thereof are being relocated to another site, is IRRESPONSIBLE. The technological means to safeguard financial records are available. There is no excuse not to do so. John P Baker Software Engineer ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: GET IBM-MAIN INFO Search the archives at http://bama.ua.edu/archives/ibm-main.html
