Michigan Estate Planning Lawyer Blog

I recently attended a training for Michigan lawyers on identity theft, both the prevention of identity theft and also steps to take after an identity theft has occurred.  We also covered steps businesses must take in terms of maintaining the privacy and identity of their customers.

Here are some common scenarios on how identity occurs.

1.  Individual Identity theft:  In this situation, an individual makes him or herself vulnerable to the theft of their own identity.  For example, someone losing a wallet or being careless with their personal information on the internet.
2. Physical Theft of Multiple Identities: With this type of ID theft, an individuals fails to properly secure the physical object that holds multiple ID's.  For example, not locking office doors when you have private client information in your office in folders.
   
3. Digital Theft of Multiple Identities:This type of scenario is becoming more common with easily mobile digital storage.  For example, someone stores private identification information on their thumb drive, then loses their thumb drive.  Another real life example is the loss of a laptop that holds private information.  This happened to the VA Administration, a laptop was stolen that had thousands of individuals social security numbers.

Understanding that most ID theft occurs because of the above scenarios helps define preventative action plans to prevent the loss of private data.  We can assist you in putting together a preventative protection plan to protect against Michigan Identity theft.

-Christopher J. Berry, Esq.
Michigan Identity Theft Lawyer