ID Theft & Fraud Center Launched
IBM, Lexis-Nexis, the U.S. Secret Service and the FBI will collaborate in a new Center for Identity Management & Information Protection (CIMIP). The effort will set up shop at Utica College. Higher education partners include Carnegie Mellon U., Indiana U. and Syracuse U. Utica cybercrime expert Gary Gordon will head CIMIP, which will study rising threats to personal and national security posed by ID theft and fraud.
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The corporate-govt.-academic alliance, unveiled at press conferences in Washington and at Utica’s upstate N.Y. campus, has an aggressive research agenda. An initial project will have DoJ’s Bureau of Justice Assistance-Office of Justice Programs working with CIMIP to examine current and emerging criminal gangs that specialize in ID fraud, with a focus on their methods. Results will help law enforcement respond proactively, provide new content for federal, state and local law enforcement training and help companies develop prevention and detection strategies, CIMIP said.
CIMIP will focus on: (1) Causes, early detection, and prevention of ID fraud and theft. (2) The evolving threat from cybercriminals, insiders and organized crime groups. (3) The impact and role of policy, legislation and regulation. (4) Improving identity authentication systems to reduce fraud and improper payments, and protect national security. (5) How enabling technologies can protect information, facilitate privacy and share information. CIMIP players will pool their knowledge and experience “to help shape the development of effective policies and best practices to combat these critical threats,” Lexis-Nexis Risk Management CEO James Peck said. The center’s formation follows a series of white papers and conferences on the subject.
CIMIP’s agenda will be guided by the advisory board for Utica’s Economic Crime Institute (ECI) and a committee of the center’s partners. Its resources and publications will be available at www.cimip.org. The center will sponsor symposia to share its findings with corporate, govt. and academic decision-makers, officials said.
It’s “critically important” that law enforcement, the private sector and academia swap information to fight ID theft, Secret Service Deputy Dir. Brian Nagel said. CIMIP is a “logical partnership” that will use members’ resources and talent for the greater good, said FBI Acting Assistant Dir., Criminal Investigation James Burrus. Utica Pres. Todd Hutton said the center’s formation is “an important step in focusing a national research agenda and providing the intense scrutiny that identity fraud, cybercrime and terrorism demand.”
N.Y. lawmakers hailed the launch. “Identity theft has become rampant in our society and to better combat the problem we need bold, new and innovative solutions,” House Science Committee Chmn. Boehlert (R-N.Y.) said: “Knowledge is power and I am confident that this new national center will give us better, more powerful tools to combat the pernicious threat of ID theft.” Technology has “changed our lives tremendously, and for the better” but many Americans are rightly confused and frightened about ID theft, Sen. Clinton (D-N.Y.) said. The challenge is how to exploit high- tech advances without compromising basic privacy rights, she said. CIMIP will put the “right focus on issues that need to be discussed at all levels of government,” she said.
Clinton plans to do her part by introducing a “Privacy Bill of Rights” within weeks. Her plan first was announced in a June 16 speech to the American Constitution Society. The title will be the Privacy Rights and Oversight for Electronic and Consumer Transactions (PROTECT) Act, a Clinton spokesman told us. The measure would ensure that “for the most deeply personal information about how we spend money on a daily basis, consumer information will be shared only when consumers ‘opt-in,'” he said.
The proposal would give consumers the right to sue and seek damages since there’s currently no clear definition of what privacy violations cost victims and little incentive for information holders to vigorously protect personal consumer data, the official said. Clinton’s bill would create a tiered system of damages, exempting the smallest businesses with set minimums of $1,000 for breaches and $5,000 for actual misuse of information. The bill would “get ahead of the curve of technology, making sure that consumers’ private cell phone numbers and call records remain private,” he said. The draft also includes provisions on credit freezes.
The consumer’s “right to know” is at the heart of Clinton’s bill, the spokesman said. The proposal would ensure consumers have the right to know when ID theft occurs and when personal data leave the U.S. for processing or storage. It would implement safeguards for medical records privacy, give consumers free access to their credit information once a year and has language to create a privacy czar in the Office of Management & Budget, officials said. - - Andrew Noyes