In what has to be one of the longest cases of identity theft on record, the Associated Press (AP) recently reported the shocking story of a 66-year-old man who has suffered from identity theft for 35 years – in other words, over half of his life.

According to the AP report, Tom Lesh, 66, of Coos Bay, Oregon, said he has known since the 1970s that his identity was stolen by a friend of his brother and he has spent, in his words, “thousands of hours” over the decades since repeatedly trying to clear his name and correct his financial records and credit history by writing letters to credit card companies, banks, and government agencies – and even appealing to the alleged identity thief’s mother for help.

The AP reports that Federal authorities recently arrested 58-year-old Clark Mower from Seattle, who allegedly used the identity of Lesh for 35 years to avoid arrest warrants and file for bankruptcy after falling over $100,000 into debt. The suspect faces several charges including aggravated identity theft, according to the report. The decades-long identity theft case was finally cracked, the AP reports, when the suspect was tracked down after an insurance fraud investigator received claims for the treatment of a “Tom Lesh” at a hospital in Seattle that the “real” Tom Lesh said he never received – which could possibly be a case of “medical identity theft.”

While this 35-year-old case of identity theft is certainly out of the ordinary, it serves as a warning about how the crime of identity theft can literally can take over – and even take away – the lives of victims due to the “thousands of hours” they spend regaining their true identities and answering for crimes they did not commit. As the identity theft victim himself told the AP after the alleged identity thief’s arrest: “It's like I've been released from prison.”

MyBackgroundCheck.com offers consumers "personal" background checks of themselves to keep their personally identifiable information (PII) accurate, up-to-date, and secure. To learn how personal background checks help stop identity theft, visit www.mybackgroundcheck.com, email info@mybackgroundcheck.com, or call 1-800-503-2364. To follow MyBackgroundCheck.com on Twitter, visit www.twitter.com/MyBackgroundChk.

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With only weeks left in the summer vacation, and another year of school set to begin in the fall, a recent survey finds that college students may be putting their parents at risk when it comes to identity theft.

The Campus Security Survey of 1,000 college students and an equal number of parents – conducted by uni-ball pens and the Identity Theft Resource Center (ITRC) – revealed that less than a quarter (21 percent) of students interviewed were concerned about identity theft, while nearly three-quarters (74 percent) of parents believed students were at moderate-to-high risk for identity theft.

According to college security expert Robert Siciliano, students who ignore their own personal security are not only putting themselves at risk for identity theft, but also their parents as well. It is a common practice among college students to use their parents’ names, bank account numbers, and other personal information to co-sign loans and leases, write tuition and housing checks, and register online to receive grades. When identity theft occurs, the parents’ personal data – not students’ – is compromised.

While nearly all (89 percent) parents said they had discussed safety measures with their students before they left for school, some warnings have fallen on deaf ears. The students’ lack of concern over identity theft is evident from the finding that 40 percent said they provided their social security numbers online.

According to the ITRC, 30 percent of all identity theft complaints come from 18- to 29-year-olds.

MyBackgroundCheck.com offers consumers "personal" background checks of themselves to keep their personally identifiable information (PII) secure and accurate. To learn how personal background checks help stop identity theft, visit www.mybackgroundcheck.com, email info@mybackgroundcheck.com, or call 1-800-503-2364. To follow MyBackgroundCheck.com on Twitter, visit www.twitter.com/MyBackgroundChk.

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Following an investigation into the privacy policies and practices of popular social network Facebook.com by the Canadian government, the Privacy Commissioner of Canada has determined that Facebook does not meet Canada's privacy legislation requirements.

According to the recent ruling, Facebook must take greater responsibility for the personal information in its care in order to comply with Canadian privacy law. The investigation identified several areas where Facebook needs to better address privacy issues. Some of the suggestions included:

• Clearer Privacy Practices: The investigation found that the information Facebook provides about its privacy practices is often confusing or incomplete. For example, the “account settings” page describes how to deactivate accounts, but not how to delete them, which actually removes personal data from Facebook’s servers.
• More Transparency: The investigation found that Facebook needs to ensure that the social networking site’s nearly 12 million Canadian users have the information they need to make meaningful decisions about how widely they share personal information.
• Safeguards Against Outside Developers: The investigation found that Facebook lacks adequate safeguards to effectively restrict the more than 950,000 outside third-party developers in some 180 countries from accessing profile information.
• Releasing Data From Deactivated Accounts: The investigation also found that Facebook has a policy of indefinitely keeping the personal information of people who have deactivated their accounts, a violation of the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA), Canada’s private-sector privacy law.  

At the urging of Canadian authorities to ensure that they are in compliance with privacy law and ultimately show themselves as models of privacy, Facebook has agreed to adopt many of the recommendations stemming from the Privacy Commissioner’s investigation and has already simplified its privacy settings after calling them too complex.

MyBackgroundCheck.com – a pioneer in consumer requested background checks – helps consumers control their own personal information with “personal” background checks on themselves. To learn more how personal background checks help protect privacy, visit www.mybackgroundcheck.com, email info@mybackgroundcheck.com, or call 1-800-503-2364. To follow us on Twitter, visit www.twitter.com/MyBackgroundChk.

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New York State Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo recently announced that he has served the social networking site Tagged.com with formal notice that his office intends to sue the company for identity theft, invasion of privacy, and deceptive email marketing practices. 

Between April and June of 2009, according to Cuomo’s notice of intent, Tagged sent tens of millions of emails to consumers stating that Tagged members had posted private photos online for their friends to view.

However – according to the notice – no such photos existed, the emails were not from friends, and when recipients of these emails tried to view the photos they were tricked into providing the company with access to their personal email contacts, which the company then used to send more promotional emails.

These practices amounted to identity theft and invasion of privacy, Attorney General Cuomo claimed:

"This company stole the address books and identities of millions of people. Consumers had their privacy invaded."

Tagged CEO Greg Tseng denied allegations of identity theft and invasion of privacy in his blog:

"Identify theft and invasion of privacy are very serious allegations and it is not accurate to portray Tagged, or any other social network, in this regard."

In June, Tagged – the 3rd largest social networking site in the U.S. and one of the largest in the world with over 80 million registered members worldwide, according to Tseng – suspended its email marketing campaign, which had sent over 60 million emails to consumers worldwide, in response to user complaints and criticism.

While it appears on the surface that Tagged.com’s actions were only meant to increase traffic and memberships, the lurking dangers of privacy loss and identity theft have led to a closer of inspection of the practices conducted by social networking sites and online businesses with regards to the personally identifying information (PII) of users.

In today’s digital age where almost everyone’s PII is readily available in cyberspace, one thing – invasion of privacy – can quickly lead to another – identity theft.

While most background check companies focus only on employers, MyBackgroundCheck.com offers consumers "personal" background checks of themselves to keep their personally identifiable information secure and accurate. To learn how personal background checks stop privacy loss and identity theft, visit www.mybackgroundcheck.com, email info@mybackgroundcheck.com, or call 1-800-503-2364. To follow MyBackgroundCheck.com on Twitter, visit www.twitter.com/MyBackgroundChk.

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According to a story on Wired.com, a new law that went into effect January 1 requiring health care organizations in California to report suspected incidents of unauthorized data breaches of a patient’s personally identifiable health information – both intentional and unintentional – to the California Department of Public Health has led to officials receiving more than 800 reports in the first five months of this year.

The agency was surprised by the large number of health data breach reports it received in such a short period, according to the Journal of the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA), and expects the numbers to increase even more as organizations become more familiar with reporting procedures.

Officials have conducted full investigations on 122 cases so far and confirmed 116 as actual data breaches. Most of the types of data breaches reported so far – which also include complaints from patients – have been unintentional. However, the Journal reports that officials can fine offending organizations or individuals up to $250,000 depending on the nature of the data breach and the extent of the harm it caused.

One such fine occurred after investigators determined that workers at a Los Angeles-based hospital inappropriately accessed the medical records of Nadya Suleman – also known as the “Octomom” – who received extensive publicity after giving birth to octuplets following fertility treatments. Investigators found that the hospital had been negligent in protecting Suleman’s medical record after discovering that an employee had improperly viewed her health data.

In addition, recently deceased actress Farrah Fawcett had also filed a complaint accusing employees in an LA-area hospital of providing information about her to a reporter.

California passed the first data breach notification law (which went into effect in July 2003) that required entities doing business in the state to notify consumers when their personally identifiable information (PII) – such as a name, date of birth, and Social Security or credit card number – was breached. The law helped expose the extent of the data breach problem and prompted other states to follow suit with their own laws.

California’s new medical data breach law, which is unpopular with many health care organizations, is the first in the nation and is being closely watched by other states.

While most background check companies focus on employers, MyBackgroundCheck.com offers consumers, jobseekers, students, and volunteers the chance to give themselves background checks and keep personal information secure, accurate, and up-to-date. For information about how personal background checks can help you avoid identity theft and privacy loss, visit www.mybackgroundcheck.com, email info@mybackgroundcheck.com, or call 1-800-503-2364. To follow MyBackgroundCheck.com on Twitter, visit www.twitter.com/MyBackgroundChk.

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