By Steve Ranger, 7 September 2005 16:00
NEWS The government is promoting shredders and ID cards as the best way of tackling identity theft.
According to government figures, more than 100,000 people are affected by the crime every year in the UK.
A leaflet has been produced by the Home Office Identity Fraud Steering Committee to advise the public on how to avoid becoming a victim.
It recommends shredding personal documents such as bills, receipts and bank statements as one way to reduce the risk of falling victim to fraudsters, and said around one million personal shredders are sold each year as a result of public concern about identity fraud.
Home Office minister Andy Burnham said identity fraud is a growing crime, costing the country more than £1.3bn per year - and pointed to the government's controversial ID cards as another way of cutting off fraudsters.
"Criminals can use stolen personal details to open bank accounts, obtain credit cards, loans, state benefits and other documents in your name - and if your identity is stolen it can take a long time to put your records and your life straight," he said in a statement.
"The government's plans to introduce a national identity cards scheme will help individuals to prove their identity and protect it from being misused or stolen by criminals," he added.
The government's Identity Cards Bill was reintroduced in the House of Commons in May and completed its committee stage in late July. It is expected to have its third reading in the House of Commons in the autumn.
People who earn more than £60,000 are almost three times more likely to be victims of identity fraud, according to research by credit reference agency Experian.
Comments
There are 3 comments. Join the discussion
1. Steve Gilbert
I don't think the Inland Revenue will want me to shred my bank statements!
2. Frank A Bradley
How do we stop people giving away all infomation on bank accounts and credit cards,as has happened from India and also here in the UK.
When will I.D.cards be out for people to use to stop the misuse of credit cards and bank accounts if it is still 2012 then who will cover the cost.
Why can we not use a simple systerm of putting a photo on all things paid by C/cards or on cheque's this will show who has used the C/C or cheque and so the stub or cheque could then be handed to police to catch the person who misused it.
If you need a systerm let me know and I will give you all the info about one.
3. Karen Challinor
So the government is still convinced that this flawed bill with it's unknown cost or consequence is the way to go is it?
Not without a lot more work it isn't, I for on want to know exactly how much it will cost me personally, I also want to know exactly what civil liberties I will be giving up by accepting this measure.
If it were just a card I wouldn't be bothered, just one more piece of plastic to carry, but it's the database, the automatic tracking, the financial monitoring, the surveillance by stealth of the general population that I am bothered about.
Currently the Government can instigate investigation into individuals, this system has checks and balances in place to protect the innocent from undue persecution. Even this can go wrong from time to time but largely the individual has a right of appeal. The ID card bill will allow the government to perform wholesale monitoring of the general population to an unprecedented level, there will still be checks and balances but these will largely be automatic due to the sheer volume of information, ever tried appealing against an automatic decision ? the level of proof you need to overturn a machine made decision is fantastic.
The main objection I have is the reversal of the burden of proof principle. Currently I am assumed innocent until proven guilty, the ID card bill assumes I am guilty until I can prove myself innocent.