600,000 More Social Security Numbers Compromised 34
DoubleWhopper writes "This time it's Time Warner Inc. According to this CNN article, an 'outside storage company' is to blame for the latest significant loss of personal information. From the article: '...the tapes contained names and Social Security information on current and former Time Warner employees and some of their dependents and beneficiaries dating back to 1986.' Fortunately, the tapes are said to have no customer information, at least."
Tired old excuse.... (Score:5, Insightful)
Honestly, I'd like to see all of the victims of ID theft get together and start filing class-actions against the companies that allow this sort of thing to happen. Maybe if we start hitting them in the pocketbook, these companies will start taking data security seriously.
Re:Tired old excuse.... (Score:2)
You do know that time warner owns CNN, right?
Re:Tired old excuse.... (Score:2)
I fear that I fail to see your point. You do understand that Iron Mountain, the data storage company which lost the tapes, is not owned by Time-Warner, don't you?
Re:Tired old excuse.... (Score:2)
Honestly, I'd like to see all of the victims of ID theft get together and start filing class-actions against the companies that allow this sort of thing to happen.
Please no. If you're dumb enough to lend someone money because they know a number, you deserve to be robbed.
Re:Tired old excuse.... (Score:1)
Re:Tired old excuse.... (Score:2)
Unfortunately, the person robbed is the individual whos ID was stolen and then a loan was given fraudulently in their name. The lender or creditor isn't robbed, because they're going to get their blood out of you, whether you're the actual initiator or not.
Apparently you know nothing about the law. No judge in the world would make you pay back a loan that was taken out by someone else just because that person knew a number which was related to you.
Regardless, you seem to have your sense of responsibili
Re:Tired old excuse.... (Score:2, Interesting)
When your identity is stolen, there is very little you can do about it. A lot of people have been left in total financial ruin b
Re:Tired old excuse.... (Score:2)
Very often, when someone has their identity stolen, they are treated like the criminal and not the victim.
Like I said, they may be harrassed, but that doesn't mean the law isn't on their side.
At the worst, the corporate entity that extended credit to "them" can write it off, get a tax break and just up their fees annually to cover for it.
Huh? At the worst? What are you talking about?
The victim, however, will have their credit ruined at the least.
It may be temporarily ruined with false informati
Re:Tired old excuse.... (Score:3, Interesting)
Well, first of all: Sorry for that. From all I know it sucks and I hope you could rectify the situation.
Even though I believe your co-debator has a slightly simplified view of life, the universe and all, nevertheless I agree with what he says in spirit.
If a financial institution is so friggin' greedy to provide everybody presenting a valid SSN with actual money they deserve to be hit and hit hard!
There's such a thing called due diligence.
This a
Re:Tired old excuse.... (Score:2)
Re:Tired old excuse.... (Score:2)
This is true, of course. But then again contractual rules are only valid to the participants of a contract.
Say American Express - with whom I never had a business relationship else then purchasing travellers cheques - suddenly demands $ 20'000.00 from me, since they claim I ordered and used one of their credit cards, they still can't apply their rules, because I never ordered a credit card. If somebody has fraudulently ordered one in my name, then it's their fuckin
Alway's Compromised (Score:4, Insightful)
Even when it's acceptable to request a social security number (an employer), you aren't promised that someone in the chain won't take your information for their own use. *shrug*
Re:Alway's Compromised (Score:3, Informative)
For most of those cases you can get away without doing this. When people ask for my SSN I just tell 'em "I'm a foreigner" and they just assume that that means "....and so I don't have one." And since they generally do want to do business with me, they find a way around the problem.
The really really nice thing
Re:Just goes to show (Score:2, Insightful)
If your going to post something like this you should really make your meaning clear. Are you being sarcastic and mean that the outsourcing is NOT the answer? Or as the fact you posted AC implies you are serious? If you had used your name I would have immeadiatly taken this for sarcasm as mine was, but since you are signed AC it makes you seem as if you are serious and an idiot.
If you want to avoid a similar situation, (Score:1, Flamebait)
besides, would you really trust critical stuff to someone who uses
Re:If you want to avoid a similar situation, (Score:2)
Re:If you want to avoid a similar situation, (Score:1)
Re:If you want to avoid a similar situation, (Score:1)
Yes, that's a great reason to rule them out.
Provide some REAL information about why I shouldn't use them. Thanks.
What sucks is... (Score:3, Interesting)
While companies say they will cover the costs of what happens to your identity, what if it doesn't happen right away? What if its 5 or 6 years from now? What is your recorse? How do you prove after that much time has passed that your identity was compromised by a particular company? Hell, in that much time, I would probably forget any of this happened.
Re:What sucks is... (Score:2)
Choicepoint requested my credit report. I have a copy of my credit report that has this listed. If I ever run into a problem, I think I can make a case that it's because of them.
The beauty of our horribly flawed legal system is that justice is available for the right price.
Wanna know something? (Score:1)
Social security numbers... (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Social security numbers... (Score:2, Interesting)
What a lot of people may not know is you ARE NOT required to give your social security number to utilities, banks, creditors, etc.
Required by what? By law? Yes, there isn't a law saying you have to give your social security number to any of those people. But you are required to give your social security number to most of those people, by those people (in other words, if you want to do business with them).
Sure, it helps your standing with them and they can probably find them on their own, but I perso
Re:Social security numbers... (Score:1)
Except when it becomes the impersonated individual's problem as well. If someone is granted a line of credit in my name and don't make payments, the bank comes knocking at my proverbial door, right?
Re:Social security numbers... (Score:2)
Except when it becomes the impersonated individual's problem as well.
Well, I don't think it's really the job of the government to assign liability for such incidental damages as the time spent contacting your credit reporting agency to get everything straightened out. But if you want to assign liability, I think there are at least two people to look at before you look at the person who leaked the number. 1) the thief herself, and (in the likely case that the thief cannot afford to pay for the liability
Re:Social security numbers... (Score:1)
A solution to the ID crisis... (Score:4, Interesting)
1. Replace the SSN with SecureID card with challenge keypad (none of those biometric foo-foo crap, bio is non-revokable)
2. Make data aggregation illegal (ooooh, sorry credit bureaus)
3. Make IRS the focal point of multi-keyed 2nd-generation SSN registration centre (sorry SSA, you screwed up, big-time!)
4. Customer "optionally" generate a NEW SSN for each business or financial institutions. (remember, data aggregation should be illegal)
5. Credit Bureau would function just fine (just a bit laggard with aggregation effort).
Once imposed, identity theft would (I guarantee this) be reduced to insignificant amount.
UNTIL THEN, nothing is currently being done to reduce the water flow from the Dutch Boy's leaking dikes.
It doesn't take much brain to resolve this crisis, just time and money. The Congress has absolutely no clue on how to fix this mess... Write your congressman today with these suggestions.
Re:A solution to the ID crisis... (Score:1)
There is a significant portion of the population that would be completely baffled by a SecureID card/fob and would never be able to comprehend how to use them. But I agree that there should be a non-biometrical solution.
What sucks is that you can't be required to provide a social security number to a company. Only your employer, financial institution, a hospital and the social security
Re:A solution to the ID crisis... (Score:1)
Of course, this is all contingent upon the CC companies actually caring enough. As it stands now (IIRC, I may be wrong, correct me if I am) a significant amount of the fraud liability is borne by the defrauded vendors, and a lot of the enforcement is done by public police, making it a lot less critical for CC companies to get their security act together.
Re:A solution to the ID crisis... (Score:2)
How hard is that?