The public believes that ID cards are the best solution
to identity theft and fraud, according to a survey published this
week.
More than half of those polled (57%) said ID cards were their
first or second preferred method to protect themselves against
identity theft, the survey of 1,000 people aged 16 to 64
showed.
But George Platt, general manager of US voice automation firm
Intervoice, which commissioned the UK survey, warned that ID cards
would “do nothing” to prevent ID theft through telephone or online
purchasing.
“It's a step in the right direction but it’s a multifaceted
problem that just an ID card won’t solve,” he said.
Worries over identity theft were starting to affect online and
telephone sales, the survey found. Nearly one in five (19%) of
respondents had stopped making telephone purchases and 17% had
abandoned online banking because of identity theft fears. Another
13% had stopped shopping online.
“The ID card is going to help with point of purchase type fraud,
but not over the phone type fraud,” Platt said.
According to Platt, voice recognition systems combined with
other data checks was a better way of protecting against phone
fraud.
Platt said it was essential to educate the public about the risk
of ID theft and how fraudsters combined information from different
sources to steal identities. He also backed action by businesses to
protect customer data.
“The reality is the public has no idea. It is up to businesses
to figure out how to secure their customers,” he said.