Identity theft how it has affected societies way of life and reality Research Paper

Identity theft how it has affected societies way of life and reality - Research Paper Example Every part of an individual’s life is surrounded with electronic items such as computers, cell phones and credit cards. Transfer of information is taking place every second in our lives, whether we are at home, work or educational centres; information is flowing from one at to another at every next moment. Due to immense use of technology, individuals end up leaving a huge track of footprints that are digital in nature. These tracks can be used by any other individual to obtain personal as well as public information of any particular individual. If these footprints fall in the hands of people who may use them wrongly, we may end up suffering heavy losses both emotionally and financially. Identity theft is referred to the criminal act of impersonating as another individual and obtaining benefits in the name of that individual. Identity theft may even be used to obtain an individual’s information and then committing crimes in the name of that individual. The US General Ac counting Office has defined identity theft as an act of obtaining an individual’s information and using that information to gain financial benefits (Hayward, 2004, p.93). Information and Privacy Commissioner defines this crime as an act of impersonating as another individual and then obtaining credit in his name (Barnard-Wills, 2012, p.188). A survey conducted by the Federal Trade Commission conducted in 2003 stated that during 2002 the number of victims of identity theft have tripled as compared to the statistics of 2001 ((Hayward, 2004, p.61). The Chubb Insurance conducted a survey during 2005 and figured out that one American our 5 American is a victim of this crime. Identity theft can be conducted in various ways (Loberg, 2004, p.34). The methods of conducting this crime are being updated and altered quite frequently. Activities of injecting an individual’s computer system with viruses and malicious instruments are conducted