Nathaniel Popper suggests stolen consumer data is not as big a problem or threat as it may seem, and the impact on consumers is somewhat declining over time. Read his article in the New York Times: Stolen Consumer Data Is a Smaller Problem Than It Seems.
While I agree with him that there’s been a lot of hype from those who benefit commercially from scaring consumers, I disagree with him strongly in that he only seems focused on financial harm resulting from breaches and does not consider that there are now more people than ever having to check their credit card statements, EOB statements, and remain vigilant for years as a result of massive breaches. Their time and distress may not be a cognizable harm as far as courts are concerned, but those impacts should not be ignored when we talk about whether consumer data theft is a big problem or not.