Comment Articles

Identity theft is here to stay

David Holtzman for ZDNet.com ZDNet US

Published: 27 Aug 2002 16:17 BST

One of the strengths of digital communications is the ability to momentarily borrow an insanely expensive computer network, such as using the Internet, to deliver a message, make a purchase or look up information.

Ironically, this most freeing quality of the computer age has also become its most troublesome aspect. Since we share these services with many other people, we have to identify ourselves with digital "keys" each time we use one. And it's these same identification keys, which provide the convenience of use, that can invite misuse by identity thieves.

E-commerce is a misnomer. Even if they have no online presence, most regional, national and global businesses have adopted the strengths and weaknesses of e-commerce. The main element of e-commerce is about restructuring a business so that it is database driven. This is the dirty secret of CRM -- that it dehumanises the customers and replaces them with numbers.

The obvious downside is a growing sense of customer disillusionment, decreasing brand loyalty and a hard-edged cynicism toward Corporate America that is no doubt contributing to current market conditions.

The real damage is subtler. The substitution of these identification keys for the person, while probably necessary, has created an environment that is conducive to identity theft. It is much easier to find a way to get the identification keys that will unlock an account than it is to break a window and leave with a television set.

There's sometimes more at stake here than just money. If you know the right keys to authenticate yourself to a computer system as someone, then for all intents and purposes you are that person in every possible way.