Report outs banks with most ID theft complaints

[OhioChick]

Consumers, regulators, and businesses have no way to reliably assess the incidences and frequency of identity fraud at major financial institutions, a new study concludes.

This lack of information means that customers cannot compare security concerns among banking institutions, says the study, conducted by Chris Hoofnagle, a senior fellow with the Berkeley Center for Law and Technology in California.

By eliminating that type of competition, financial institutions do not feel marketing pressure to devise methods to better protect their customers from fraud, the study determines.

Hoofnagle said he decided to research this issue so customers would be able to consider a bank based on its data security.

“I'm interested in fostering competition among banks for the prevention of identity theft,” he said. “Currently, banks compete through commercials, which do not provide meaningful information about which institutions are most vulnerable to the crime.”

Hoffnagle used the Freedom of Information Act to obtain data submitted by victims in 2006 to the Federal Trade Commission, Hoofnagle said in the report. He found that some banks have a far greater incidence of identity theft than other types of businesses.

http://www.scmagazineus.com/Report-outs-banks-with-most-ID-theft-complaints/article/107475/

[NJCher]

1. here's to the guy who initiated this study

Very clever and what a public service he performed. Thanks for posting this!





Cher

[Quantess]

2. Definitely worth posting!