Gallup trends measuring Americans’ fear of being victims of specific crimes date back several decades, but for each of 10 crimes, the question has been updated annually on Gallup’s Crime survey since 2000. Terrorism was added to the list in 2001, and 2009 marks the first year identity theft has been included.  Gallup says the reason for big worries about identity theft might have to do with the high-profile attention lawmakers and identity-protection firms have been placing on it.

Besides identity theft statistics on American’s fear of identity theft, they also polled on the steps they would take to prevent it. Biometrics is the clear winner. Biometrics refers to methods for uniquely recognizing humans based upon one or more built-in physical or behavioral traits (fingerprint, voice pattern, gait pattern, retinal scan, etc.).  In particular, biometrics is used as a form of Identity Access Management and it is also used to identify individuals in groups that are under surveillance. According to the Gallup Survey, 58% percent of Americans said they would use biometrics to verify their identities, as long as the biometric data was secured, while 38% said they would not use biometrics. The lack of daily use of these methods causes some Americans to be hesitant at first until they are more familiar.

Here are a few more statistics that were uncovered through this survey:

• 93 % said they would prefer fingerprint scans as a way to authenticate access to their data with banks, government agencies, and other organizations — an increase of 20 percent over responses a year ago.
• 79 % of the respondents saying they were willing to use Iris scanning for authentication.
• 89 % would use passwords
• 88 % would use PINs
• 82 %, photographs
• 74 %, face scans
• 69 %, voice recording.
• 22 % said they trust the feds to protect their data
• 29 % trust their financial institutions to protect their data

More Americans today worry about being a victim of Identity Theft than they do being a victim of Terrorism. The best way to reduce fear of Identity theft is to begin prevention and protection today.

John Sileo became America’s leading Identity Theft Speaker & Expert after he lost his business and more than $300,000 to identity theft and data breach. His clients include the Department of Defense, Pfizer and the FDIC.  To learn more about having him speak at your next meeting or conference, contact him by email or on 800.258.8076.

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3. Identity Theft Statistics & Holiday Shopping

The large impact that identity theft has on individuals lives and corporations’ bottom lines has made inexpensive biometrics look attractive for authenticating employees, customers, citizens, students and any other people we want to recognize. The most recent debate is on whether the pros outweigh the cons. (To see some of the materials that influenced this article, please visit George Tillmann’s excellent article in Computerworld).

Biometrics uses physical characteristics, such as fingerprints, DNA, or retinal patterns to positively verify individuals. These biological identifiers are electronically converted to a string of ones and zeros and stored on file in the authenticator database.

The downside or weakness of biometrics is that the risk of data breach remains relatively the same. Just as a credit card number can be stolen, the numbers that make up your biometrics and are stored in a database can be stolen.  It may take longer for thieves to understand how to use these new pieces of information, but they will eventually be used.

Ultimately, this could be more dangerous than having your ATM PIN, credit card number, or Social Security Number stolen, and it will take longer to clear up.  In a worst-case-scenario, someone inside of the biometric database company could attach their fingerprint to your record — and suddenly they are you. The reverse is also true, where they put your fingerprint in their profile so that if they are convicted of a crime, the proof of criminality is attached to your finger.

What will stop thieves from electronically sending your stolen fingerprints to your bank to confirm that you really do want to clean out your bank account through an ATM in Islamabad? Fingerprints, when stored in a database, are nothing more than long strings of numbers. What will you do when your digitized fingerprints wind up on a government No-Fly list? If you think it takes forever to board a plane now, wait until every law enforcement agency in the free world has your fingerprints on file as a suspected thief or, worse, a terrorist.

The reality is that biometrics could be a great alternative to securing one’s identity – and they are quickly becoming a part of every day identification.  But we can’t go forward into the new world of biometrics thinking that it solves all of our problems. Like the “security codes” on the back of our credit cards, like the two forms of authentication required for most banks, like wireless encryption standards – thieves eventually find work-arounds. And so too will they work around biometrics. If we implement biometrics without doing our due diligence on protecting the identity, we are doomed to repeat history — and our thumbprint will become just another Social Security Number.

John Sileo became America’s leading Identity Theft Speaker & Expert after he lost his business and more than $300,000 to identity theft and data breach. His clients include the Department of Defense, Pfizer and the FDIC. Contact John directly on 800.258.8076.

Follow John on: Twitter, YouTube, Facebook.

Related posts:

1. Entire Town in Colorado Has Identity Stolen
2. Identity Theft Statistics: Gallup Poll
3. Uncovering Business Identity Theft