I’ve said it before and I will say it again, “Your personal Identity is everywhere!”  In today’s society you can find your identity at doctors offices, hospitals, banks, credit card companies, mortgage companies, auto dealerships and the list goes on and on.  

So, it didn’t surprise me when I saw the article titled, “Okla. Residents Claim Identity Theft Stems From Web Docs.”  Some Pottawatomie County, Oklahoma, residents claim they are the victims of identity theft, and they believe it is the result of their Social Security numbers being visible online.

According to the article, at issue are mortgage and lease documents posted to a publicly accessible Web site. The documents were posted with social security numbers in view.   Pottawatomie County clerk Nancy Bryce said there is no plan currently to remove them from the Web. At issue are mortgage and lease documents posted to a publicly accessible Web site. The documents were posted with social security numbers in view.

 What does surprise me is the insensitivity of most county governments and some businesses to this problem.  It’s as if the county feels like it is above the problems this kind of information sharing can cause its citizens.   This is an example of how arrogant agencies like this can be.   Some states have enacted laws that prevent this kind of personal information being released to the public.

How hard would it be to simply black out the personal information like Social Security Number, drivers license number and date of birth for example.  Why is it necessary to put all of this personal information up on the Web site in the first place? 

Instead the citizens are left to fend for themselves.  Perhaps Pottawatomie County and others like them should shoulder the cost of recovering those lost identities.  Identity theft isn’t an easy thing to overcome.  The Identity Theft Resource Centeris the best place to go to understand the effects of cybercrime. 

In many circumstances, it can take thousands of hours of personal time including lost work plus thousands of dollars to get your identity back.  The scary part is that even though it may appear your identity has been recovered you’ll never know.  The question is who else has your identity.  Was it sold to a group of identity thieves?  Will they hold on to my personal information for several years and then attack me again?

You will continually look over your shoulder wondering whether another identity theft incident will happen. 

Identity theft isn’t fun.  It is a horrible experience.  It breaks up marriages.  It ruins jobs.  It destroys people.  Yet, we find organizations and companies who have a total disregard for the outcome of simply posting your personal information on the web or not protecting it adequately. 

So, in the end, we need to protect ourselves.  We have to understand the identity theft is the fastest growing crime in the world today and the only way to guard against it and its horrible effects is to protect ourselves. 

You will never be able to protect against identity theft, but you can protect against its horrible effects.   There are whole identity theft protection programs available that include full identity recovery back to pretheft status.   I recommend everyone subscribe to this kind of service because you never know when a county or business is going to have your personal information released or stolen.