What's My Name?

For any of you that thought this might be commentary on the Rihanna/Drake single, follow this link. For those of you that were expecting a security awareness PSA about the dangers of identity theft, keep reading.

So I was at a “function” (I know – pretty grown up of me to go to one) and an old acquaintance came up to me and said, “Hi Ray.” I cringed and corrected her. I hate being called Ray. I hate it because I have this image of who a Ray is and he’s not me. I hate that anyone would think of me as that Ray character because I am not that person. When you call me Ray, you not only rob me of my real identity, you assign me a new one that I despise. This is all in my head of course. But it got me thinking about my identity and its potential to be stolen or reassigned.

The Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre (CAFC) in partnership with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) and the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) have formed a Criminal Intelligence Analytical Unit (CIAU) that publishes an Annual Statistical Report (ASR). This document (I like to call the CAFC/RCMP/OPP-CIAU-ASR 2012) can be found here. If you could see my face, you would see my amusement with the title of this report. That amusement aside, I am glad the Canadian Government is keeping an eye on these trends.

Here are some highlights. Mail fraud is on the decline. The number of complaints are on the decline which I assume is an indicator of how many scams exist. The number of victims are on the decline. That may be a testimony to better protections, but the bottom line is that mail fraud is on the decline. The report compares Canadian and U.S. data which share similar trends. Also notable is that Quebec experiences a proportionally lower rate of mass marketing fraud (MMF). Apparently spammers don’t speak French. As for identity theft, well it is on the rise. Both in number of victims and the dollar loss associated with the fraud. So what do we do about this? How should we react? My recommendation is - get happy! These are first world problems.

The more serious global identify theft concern is multi-generational, systemic poverty. Here in North America, having an online identity is our responsibility and privilege. Having a wallet or purse with a bunch of good stuff in it is a clear indicator that you are closer to the top of the dog pile. Having an identity that is worth stealing should make you happy. Knowing that you live in a country where identity theft is on the rise is a clear indicator that you are part of the knowledge economy. I would bet identify theft trends will be a predictor of improved GDP. Be proud of your rising identify theft trend. Keep encouraging everyone to establish an online identity. Go buy yourself something on Amazon.

Here’s a Wikipedia page showing global Internet usage and access. If you don’t trust Wikipedia, find your own stats. I think my point will be the same. Online identity theft only happens in countries that have access to the Internet. Where’s the real crime? In countries where people don’t have identities, online or otherwise. Bloomberg Businessweek reports that 90% of U.S. adults have a bank account which can be contrasted with the stat that only half of the world’s population has a bank account. The cause for this disparity is obvious.

Here’s a link to some CIA World Factbook stats on women. The school life expectancy for women in Somalia is two years. The average number of children born to a Somali woman is six. Her life expectancy is 53 years. The female literacy rate is 25%. Here in Canada, women live until they are 81. They have an average of 1.59 children. Virtually all of them can read (99%) and they are in school for 17 years. We all know which one of these women will gets their identity stolen after popping out her payment card at the corner Sushi place?

The real identity theft question is whether you were granted the opportunity to have identity. If anything should be concerning us, it’s that we seem as a race to be unable to ensure that every person on this globe gets an identity to start with. If there was ever a security awareness message to spread, it is that if we don’t change this at some point, we will all lose our identities. Maybe not in our lifetime but it is inevitable. I don’t have an answer as to how. I am just making you aware.

Note: As always I invite your comments. I have been pleased by my steady and growing readership. Many thanks to those of you that have sent me feedback or have shared “Now is Everywhere” with others. I leave you with an ironic and iconic ghetto affirmation of identity mixed with misogyny.