Its me its really me I promise. April Fools

I can't help thinking that there is a certain amount of scare mongering here.

If I let my passport expire then I would not be able to withdraw cash from my own bank account, let alone open a new bank account even in my own name, so I don't see how the information mentioned is supposed to suffice to open an account in someone elses name!

Date of birth and mothers maiden name may be a popular way for banks to establishing identity for the purposes privacy protection (such as when requesting a balance over the phone), but that is highly questionable in any case as it is all information publicly available from the registry of births, deaths and marriages.

It would be like having the banks decide to verify identity by asking for your eye colour, and then saying that not wearing dark glasses is creating an identity theft problem. The problem is using stupid methods of identity confirmation.

I agree, Digbyt. These kinds of articles fit so easily into the current-day mindset that they almost write themselves. It's like outsourcing articles last year, identity theft is today's big panic. Six months from now it will be forgotten.

How the heck is knowing someone's dog's name going to help you get a loan in their name? Come on! I've never been asked that question on a credit card application.

The presence of FUD and sensationalism does not actually prove the absence of an concern. The underlying phenomenon is a leaky authentication system: it works most of the time. The question of whether the world is going to hell in a handbasket is one of risk-analysis and tipping points. It is entirely concievable that some types of fraud will reach a point where those getting burned (institutions) will just stop exposing themselves to this sort of risk. How much, and how fast are the quantities of interest.

I've poked around with this, but I haven't seen anything that tries to tease out what conditions would be necessary for failure, what such a failure would look like. Jean had a good workshop a few years ago, but has anyone seen anything more recent?

Unfortunately we are somewhat shackled with FUD as a modus operandi, there is no media outlet that is going to let the truth stand in the way of a good story. Still, the basic facts as described were interesting.

Note that this is Britain not US. So far, the figures and most of the observers agree that only the US is badly hit with identity theft in whatever form. The question that a lot of people are asking is whether it will migrate out of the US as so many things do. My guess is not, as even though some other countries have adopted a strong credit society, american style, they have not adopted the same open identity structure.