There have always been unscrupulous people in the world who will do anything to make a quick buck, but new data technologies have created illicit opportunities that were unheard of just a few years ago.

Although “identity theft” is still in the process of being universally defined, it refers to the preliminary collection, possession and trafficking of identity information for the purposes of committing a crime. Experts estimate that Canadian identity theft could already exceed $2 billion a year, and the victims are usually families, seniors and financial institutions. For this reason, the federal government plans to introduce legislation this fall to protect Canadians from impersonation, telephone fraud, and misuse of debit and credit card data.

Identity theft paves the way to identity fraud. While fraud is already covered under the Canadian Criminal Code, there are no existing laws or regulations in place to deal with persons who actually obtain the data in the first place. This government is taking to task the data-gatherers who breach our privacy and collect personal information. New laws will be championed by the Honourable Rob Nicholson, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, and the Honourable Jean-Pierre Blackburn, Minister of Labour.

Do Canadians fear that they could become the unwilling victims of data-gathering criminals? An Ipsos-Reid survey taken last fall indicated that 73 percent of us are concerned about becoming victims of identity theft, and 28 per cent say they, or someone they know, are already victims. The number of victims could be even higher because some people are reticent to admit they were deceived.

Identity theft has been identified as one of the fastest growing problems in North America, and this government wants to make it a crime. In 2006, nearly 8,000 victims reported losses of $16 million to the Canadian anti-fraud call centre, PhoneBusters. The government believes we owe more protection and security to Canadian consumers, banks, credit card companies, stores and businesses.

Canadian and U.S. law enforcement agencies have seen identity theft used for fraud, terrorism, and facilitating other types of crime. It could be one person working in isolation, or an organized and complex operation that involves many people. The new legislation will give police and criminal prosecutors new tools to address complex criminal activities.

As technology flourishes, so does the need to rein in those who would conspire to use it against us. For more information on identity theft and fraud, check out the www.phonebusters.com web site.

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