Group looks at ID theft definitions, research

A new workshop report from the Identity Theft Prevention and Identity Management Standards Panel (IDSP) addresses various facets of how research companies measure identity theft. The report finds that disparities exist in the way that terms are defined in statute versus in practice—terms such as identity theft, identity fraud and data breach.

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Rick Kam, president of ID Experts, led a team that cataloged 166 research studies on identity theft and data breach trends, identity theft protection services, and information security solutions. “Our group observed some contradictory results in research findings attributable to differences in terminology, research methodology, and even potential bias in research sponsorship,” said Kam. “We also noted a number of gaps in existing research such as the effects of identity theft versus identity fraud, breach correlation to identity theft, and the effectiveness of identity theft protection services and information security solutions.”