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Good job  everyone!
thank you for your contributions, and for the very useful and insightful resources you shared!
-Nexus team-

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Can digital footprints lead to greater financial inclusion?

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Can digital footprints lead to greater financial inclusion?

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I share this 2012 brief of from the Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP) of the World Bank Group. The mission of CGAP is to advance financial access for the world’s poor by providing market intelligence, promoting standards, developing innovative solutions, and offering advisory services to governments, financial service providers, donors, and investors.

This brief report analyses some hypotheses on “how digital footprints (from mobile phone) could be used to deliver credit to the unbanked.” These digital footprints could yield two basic types of models:

1.      predictive models to design financial products

2.      “propensity” models for marketing

Some examples of businesses that used digital footprints for financial services are listed.

This possible innovative solution, though, raises an ethical use question. Indeed, “on one hand, consumers may game the system if they are aware of how data are being used. On the other hand, poor people may be denied financial access based on analysis that might treat them unfairly.”

I found it interesting because it proposes an innovative solution for access to credit for unbanked people using digital footprints and mobile phones, highlighting also drawbacks and ethical issues.
erica_t

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Can Digital Footprints Lead to Greater Financial Inclusion?

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Poor people's use of their mobile phones generates data that leave what can be called a digital footprint. These data are among a handful of sources of electronic information that exist on poor people. This information is potentially powerful but has not yet been used in ways to radically impact financial access for poor people.

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As an HR professional in an international organization, I think this relatively new habit of checking candidates and employees on social media (other than the ones used for professional purposes, e.g. LinkedIn) is poorly ethic. What people do in their non-working time has nothing to do with their professional skills and abilities. If I can understand (not accept) that this happens in some specific countries where personal freedom is limited, it is unacceptable in European or Northern American countries, since it breaks the non-discrimination policy that we have fought long for: gender, sexual orientation, nationality, political believes, ages, etc. In a not so far past, people were complaining against the Vatican City checking the "catholic status" of candidates and employees to maintain high moral standards; the same people are today making decisions on their candidates and employees based on what they find on social media.

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Your personal social media profiles can potentially seriously affect your professional life.

"Because we tend to view our personal social media accounts as being 'personal,' there's a good chance that by viewing someone's profile, you'll get a glimpse into their personality beyond the resume," said DeeAnn Sims-Knight, founder of Dark Horse PR. [Read related article: Tips for Creating a Great Resume]

What is a social media screening?

A social media screening is usually done prior to employment, when a candidate is applying for a job. It involves researching a prospect's social media profiles and their activity, including what they post, like and comment on. Some of the platforms they are likely to check are LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, TikTok and WhatsApp.

In a survey conducted by The Harris Poll, 70 percent of the employers who responded said they believe every company should screen candidates' social media profiles during the hiring process. Moreover, 78 percent of employers believe that current employees should maintain a work-appropriate social media profile.

And it's not just job candidates who are at-risk if they post certain content on social media; it's also current employees. In a survey conducted by Express Employment Professionals, an overwhelming majority of employers said they would fire existing employees for posting certain social media content.

So, what are hiring managers and employers looking for when screening candidates' and employees' social media profiles? Generally, they're looking for red flags that include the sharing of illegal activities, offensive comments, violent or aggressive behavior, sexually explicit material, and confidential information.

Which social media channels can employers check?

Audit your social media accounts before applying for a position. While it's important to check every account, there are some platforms hiring managers are more likely to check, such as LinkedIn.

"The three main platforms that most employers check are LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter," said Matt Erhard, managing partner of Summit Search Group. "I am personally most interested in the candidate's LinkedIn profile, as it's the most relevant."

Most employers view LinkedIn as a secondary resume, and some even post jobs on LinkedIn. However, they are still likely to check other social media channels, such as Instagram. In addition to what you're posting, make sure you are cognizant of who you follow and how they are interacting with your content.

"When I check a candidate's Facebook or Twitter, my aim is more to get a sense of them as a person than to look for damaging information," Erhard said.

Here are some details about the major social media outlets:

Instagram: As a highly visual social media platform, it's important to select images and videos that won't land you in hot water on Instagram. Keep your page professional and positive to give potential employers a sense of your attitude and personality. This extends beyond what you post and into content from other users that you share as publicly viewable stories.

Twitter: Unless your profile is set to private, anyone can view what you post on Twitter and the other tweets that you like or reply to. Setting your profile to private prevents potential employers from seeing your content on Twitter, but it may eliminate an opportunity to make a favorable impression.

Facebook: Facebook is often seen as a more secure form of social media because only people you are friends with can typically see your profile if your settings are private. However, you still want to make sure that you are keeping tabs on what users post to your wall, tag you in and comment on your posts.

TikTok: TikTok is quickly becoming a major social media platform, and employers often check it. If you create videos on the app, it helps your potential employer get a sense of who you are and how you might work with others at the company. Of course, you should make sure your content is appropriate and professional in order to survive a social media screening.

Tips for passing social media screenings

Follow these tips to benefit from potential employers performing social media screenings:

1. Don't erase your profile.

While the fear of something embarrassing or negative being discovered might tempt some job candidates to completely erase their online persona, employers say that strategy can backfire.

About 1 in 5 employers in The Harris Poll's survey said they won't call a person for an interview if they can't find them online. In addition to seeming like you're trying to hide something, it's not a good idea to delete your profile, because it doesn't guarantee the data is completely gone. Instead, the best practice is to keep your social accounts clean and up to date.

"Erasing all of your profiles often implies that you have something to hide," said Dana Case, VP of operations at MyCorporation. "Many LinkedIn or Instagram accounts may still show up in Google searches [after you delete them], even on a cached basis."

2. Use social media to your benefit.

Despite what job candidates might think, most employers are looking for reasons to hire someone. The Harris Poll surveyed over 1,000 employers and found that 67 percent of them look for information that supports a candidate's qualifications to get them through the door.

You can use your social media profiles to promote content that shows your knowledge, professionalism and commitment to growth - characteristics that any employer will want to see. If you're truly passionate about your career, share your accomplishments and interesting content from others in the same space as well. This will showcase your personal interest in the job and encourage employers about your ability to perform and grow in the role you're applying for.

3. Google yourself.

Every few weeks or months, take a minute to Google yourself in an incognito window. This is likely where your employer is going to start when they take a look at your online presence, so it's good to know what will pop up. This will also help you get ahead of anything negative, so you can make sure all the top search results are things you would be fine with your employer seeing.

You might even consider setting up Google alerts for yourself, so if anything new pops up, you'll know right away. If everything remains positive, you're good to go. If there is something you'd rather erase, there are companies you can work with to help improve your online presence.

How to make your profiles private

Since it's legal for employers to check public social media accounts, consider creating at least one account for professional purposes and keeping personal accounts private.

"One of the best strategies I have seen is creating multiple, separate social media accounts on social media platforms," Case said. "Job seekers may have a professional Instagram account, for instance, where they share their office and work wins. They may also have a more private personal account that is locked and only allows a select number of individuals to follow it."

Be wary of hiring managers requesting information beyond what's available online. This is similar to employers asking inappropriate questions during interviews, and should raise a red flag about the firm.

"I have heard of employers asking candidates to provide their password and login credentials for social media," Erhard said. "This is not technically illegal in many places, though, in my mind, it's an uncomfortable invasion of privacy."

Does social media show up on background checks?

Social media accounts don't typically show up on background checks. Most background checks include employment history, credit information and legal problems. However, there may be some cases where social accounts show up on a social media background check.

"There are companies that run social media-based background checks, but that is a separate paid service," Erhard added. "While I'm aware of its existence, I don't personally know any employers who have utilized that kind of service."
[Read related article: Types of Background Checks Employers Should Run]

What to avoid on social media

The study found that a whopping 55 percent of employers who use social media screenings said they have found content that caused them not to hire a candidate.

Follow these guidelines from The Harris Poll's survey to keep your online presence professional:

1. Avoid posting anything potentially offensive. If you wouldn't bring in a particular picture and post it in your cubicle, or say something at the workplace, remove it from your public page.

2. Be purposeful in your posts. Ask yourself: What is my goal with posting this? Is this best for a private or public page?

3. Keep it simple: Remember that less is more in your public profiles.

4. Never complain about employers or colleagues - past or present - on social media.

While these tips are geared toward job seekers, the results of the Express Employment Professionals survey also make clear that existing employees should take this advice to heart. Not only are employers sometimes monitoring their employees' social media behavior, but future employers may conduct social media screenings as well.

Think before you post

Social media is an extension of yourself, and although it sometimes feels like cyberspace is detached from the real world, your actions online can have consequences for your professional life. When creating and sharing content on your social media profiles, stop and take a moment to think about how it may reflect on you beyond your immediate friend group. If a potential employer were to see it during a screening, would it harm your chances of landing that big job you've been hoping for? If so, consider not sharing it in the first place, or at the very least creating separate profiles for recreational posting and setting them to private.
Tejas Vemparala and Nicole Fallon contributed to this article. Source interviews were conducted for a previous version of this article.

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Social media screenings are more popular than ever with hiring managers, so job seekers should be aware of what they're posting online and how it could affect their prospects of being hired.

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Childrens education about digital footprint

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Childrens education about digital footprint

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I've choosed this short video that explains how to educate childrens to manage their digital footprint. It's a useful habit that could impact in their future because the image they leave online could compromise or improve the expectations about them.

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Managing kids digital footprint - tips for parents | Internet Matters

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These activists are quite successfully proposing advanced solutions in fields related to digital rights and democracy. In Barcelona, for example they are on a good path to remove the access to google from schools in order to use more ethical alternatives. They are also behind 'My Data Done Right' https://www.mydatadoneright.eu/ helping people to generate, send, and keep track of their requests in order to access, remove, correct, or move their personal data - it's a step forward from Have I Been PWNED. (By the way, I found it surprising that my email hasn't been in a data breach for 3 years now.)

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Xnet - Internet freedoms & digital rights

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An activist project working and proposing advanced solutions in fields related to digital rights and democracy: freedom of expression; net neutrality; digital privacy; the free circulation of culture, knowledge and information; mechanisms for transparency, participation and citizen control of power and institutions; the defence of citizen journalism for the right to know, inform and be informed; the technical, communications and legal fight against corruption; and the technopolitics understood as the practice of networking and taking action for citizen empowerment, justice and social transformation.

European Digital Rights

WIN Whistleblowing International Network

ENCO EU Network of Corporate Observatories

Public Money Public Code Campaign

Interoperability News

Coalition against SLAPPs in Europe

Ban Surveillance Advertising

Coalición Pro Acceso

Xnet works with Ciencia en el Parlamento

Xnet colabora con No Somos Delito

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Xnet - Internet freedoms & digital rights

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An activist project working and proposing advanced solutions in fields related to digital rights and democracy: freedom of expression; net neutrality; digital privacy; the free circulation of culture, knowledge and information; mechanisms for transparency, participation and citizen control of power and institutions; the defence of citizen journalism for the right to know, inform and be informed; the technical, communications and legal fight against corruption; and the technopolitics understood as the practice of networking and taking action for citizen empowerment, justice and social transformation.

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It is an important reflection on how technology and our digital experience increase that we are not ready to secure ourselves from what we publicly share.

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Adam Ostrow: After your final status update

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Not everything is bad news when it comes to this point.
Some companies can use our traits for good.
We should make companies be ethical and useful for us.

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Cambridge Analytica has shaped people's views of psychological targeting. Professor Sandra Matz argues for an ethical approach that can restore its reputation.
My world turned in December 2016. Suddenly, something that only a handful of academics and marketing futurists had cared about became front page news the world over. Something that helped plunge an already headline-stricken Facebook into further crisis. And something that brought the nascent field of research I work to mainstream attention.

Suddenly, we all wanted to know about psychological targeting - but for all the wrong reasons. I speak, of course, of the Cambridge Analytica scandal.

The company had allegedly created detailed psychological profiles of millions of US citizens during the 2016 Presidential election. It had purportedly used those profiles to target voters with Facebook ads that were highly personalised and essentially designed to discourage them from going to the ballots and voting for Hillary Clinton.

For all the fear and fury the media tempest brought, it also brought psychological profiling out of the shadows. This has huge potential to shape our lives for the better; let's take the opportunity to debate how and why we should do so.

And we should debate - psychological targeting is here to stay, whether we like it or not, so it is critical it is not left only in the hands of those bad actors who are prepared to use these powerful techniques, covertly, for nefarious purposes. We don't know for sure, and may never know, whether this is indeed what Cambridge Analytica used, but we do know that they could have done so. The likelihood that someone else is going to use it in an illegal or immoral way is high. It's incumbent on us all to determine the road we take next.
Psychological targeting: a powerful new tool for a data-fuelled age
I often get asked whether psychological targeting is just dirty manipulation that unfairly changes the rules of engagement? Of course, in some contexts it most likely is (Cambridge Analytica), but it doesn't have to be that way. It depends on how we use it. Just keep in mind that all communication in our interpersonal relationships is somewhat tailored - and you probably do so naturally. You don't talk to a child the same way you would your boss or your partner. You'd speak to your outgoing friends in a different manner than your shyer friends.

To some extent psychological targeting merely replicates this in the online world at scale. Where once perhaps you used to be a number, we had a sense of what you did but not why; brands, companies, political parties can now have that deeper, more personal relationship with you, for the better.

Forget Cambridge Analytica for the time being, but imagine instead a politician such as Barack Obama using that technology to try to truly understand his voters. In the last US election some 40% of people stayed at home because they were completely disengaged with politics. Politicians are routinely accused of not caring about their constituents, not listening or speaking their language. Consider psychological targeting as a tool to engage and understand what you care about and it becomes apparent that it could be a huge opportunity to engage the population in politics again - because if almost half the population isn't voting then we're not really making the most of democracy.

Perhaps its use in politics is a step too far, too soon. Perhaps we collectively decide we don't want psychological targeting anywhere near the democratic process. Fine - but it should be an informed discussion and decision. The alternative is knee-jerk reactions potentially banning its commercial use, for instance, whilst those bad actors continue to maliciously exploit it in the shadows.
The blurring lines between public and private
With the democratisation of the internet, everyone has the ability to both create and broadcast content. But, for example, once a post or picture is publicly shared, it becomes almost impossible to make it private again. Even if the original post has been deleted, it has left a digital record that is difficult if not impossible to remove - it may, for instance, have been publicly shared by others, as many a celebrity or politician has found to their cost.

More problematic yet is that data knowingly made public by an individual in one specific context can be transferred to another context and used to infer information that the owner never intended to reveal. For example, users do not expect their social media profiles to be used to infer political or sexual orientation. A user might be willing to share his or her data in order to receive personalised advertising for their favourite sporting events, for instance, but might be opposed in the context of political campaigns.
The privacy paradox and privacy by design
One potential solution to the privacy paradox is privacy by design: the integration of proactive privacy protection into the design, development and application of data systems and technologies. Policy makers should also consider regulation that directly addresses psychological profiling, perhaps, as suggested above, restricting its use in certain contexts such as political advertising.

In an ideal world, regulation would guarantee that - whatever the context - certain professional, legal and ethical standards are upheld, allowing users to navigate today's complex privacy landscape more easily and with a higher level of trust.

In this world, approaches to privacy protection could be accompanied by a principle that is focused on opportunities rather than challenges: disclosure by choice.

Because, when implemented in an ethical way that puts the user first, predictive technologies such as psychological targeting have the potential to improve people's lives.
Sandra Matz is a Professor at Columbia Business School and the co-author of Fast Forward Files Volume 2: Changing Perspective: Why everything will be different for generation next, available now on Amazon.

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How psychological targeting can be used for good | WARC

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Cambridge Analytica has shaped people's views of psychological targeting. Professor Sandra Matz argues for an ethical approach that can restore its reputation. My world turned in December 2016. Suddenly, something that only a handful of academics and marketing futurists had cared about became front page news the world over.

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"What if you're only going to be anonymous for 15 minutes?" asked Juan Enriquez.
He explains how digital footprint is like a permanent tattoo, it means  our information persist on the web forever.

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Juan Enriquez: Your online life, permanent as a tattoo

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What if Andy Warhol had it wrong, and instead of being famous for 15 minutes, we're only anonymous for that long? In this short talk, Juan Enriquez looks at the surprisingly permanent effects of digital sharing on our personal privacy. He shares insight from the ancient Greeks to help us deal with our new "digital tattoos."

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A forward-looking approach to social media

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A forward-looking approach to social media

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I'd like to share another Tedex video which I found very interesting. The main point is that we can use and take advantage of social media but we should be conscious of the digital footprint that we live behind us! Nicole Osborne suggests that before posting something, we should always ask ourselves: "Does this post represents me?". We should make this exercise with a long-term approach. An image that we uploaded as students might be retrieved by employers years from now and can influence a job application. We should bear in mind that deleting content from social media is practically impossible...

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What Do Your Digital Footprints Say About You? | Nicola Osborne | TEDxYouth@Manchester

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Teaching Kids About Digital Footprints and Online reputations

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Teaching Kids About Digital Footprints and Online reputations

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Since everything we post online lasts forever, we better start teaching our kids how to behave online.

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Teaching Kids About Digital Footprints And Online Reputations

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Updated 2019 with a printable classroom poster sharing 10 tips kids need to know about digital footprints. Find lesson ideas and activities that you can do with your students at the elementary or high school level. This post breaks down what is a digital footprint for children.

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Computer-based personality judgments are moreaccurate than those made by humans

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Computer-based personality judgments are moreaccurate than those made by humans

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This very interesting article describes how digital footprints (from posts or likes in Facebook for example) could be used to make more accurate predictions about you, your psychological states or traits than your friends, your family and your partner.

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I found this video very interesting. It shows how our smartphones leak out data to anyone who cares to listen. Also, it explains how someone between us and the internet can break the connection and steal our data. However, it tells us how to protect our privacy by removing any network that we don’t use anymore from our phones, and never connect to open network.

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Your smartphone is leaking your information | Bram Bonné | TEDxGhent

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I choose this image as it summarizes what we learned about Digital Footprints and I found it very effective!

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Digital footprints!!!
When could we get freed of the rebounded effects of our short terms interests.
It looks that almost all human activities are compounded with side effects, usually hurting the future generations, children!!!

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Some ideas to protect ourselves from some trackers

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Some ideas to protect ourselves from some trackers

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I am specially concerned about our passive digital footprint, so I want to share with you this video I have found in YouTube where, since the minute 6:29, Luke Crouch gives some ideas to protect ourselves from some trackers (Laura López Ramírez).

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How Online Trackers Track You, and What You Can Do About It | Luke Crouch | TEDxUniversityofTulsa

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In this video, the speaker explains the relationship between people’s digital footprints and their psychological preferences and shows how it is used as psychological targeting in the post-Facebook data breach world.

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Psychological Targeting: What Your Digital Footprints Reveal About You | Sandra Matz | TEDxChicago

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Identity Theft Statistics, Facts and Trends in 2021

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Identity Theft Statistics, Facts and Trends in 2021

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This article shows the importance of being careful with what you share online using statistics and facts. It gathered the top identity theft statistics, trends and facts to keep you safe.

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Identity theft is and will remain a large threat to online security. However, as attacks get more sophisticated, so do the security measures. Here, we've gathered the top identity theft statistics, trends and facts to keep you safe.

Identity Theft Statistics: Basic Facts You Should Know

Before getting to our stats, let's define what identity theft is and some important terms you should know.

What Is Identity Theft?

Identity theft is any fraud related to using someone else's personal information. In many cases, data breaches are where personal information leaks out. In 2018, around 65 percent of all data breaches resulted in identity theft.

There are various different forms of identity theft, but the most common is account or credit theft (the two are usually grouped together). Account identity theft is whenever a criminal gains access to an existing account you have (social media, bank or otherwise) or opens a new account using your information.

There are different ways attackers find and gather this information. As mentioned, data breaches are a major attack vector. Personal data can also be compromised with email scams, social media scams and phone scams. New attack vectors are showing up, too, such as formjacking (more on that soon).

Important Identity Theft Terms

Federal Trade Commission

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is a U.S. government agency that helps protect consumers from fraud and scams, including identity theft. The FTC is important because it allows victims to report identity theft, so much of the data we'll reference in this guide is tied back to the FTC in one form or another.

It's also important because the FTC puts out regular notices about scams. If you're worried about falling victim to a scam - through any means, whether it's email, phone or otherwise - check the FTC website to learn about new, widespread scams.

Data Breaches

One of the most significant ways criminals obtain personal information is through data breaches. Subpar security practices at businesses large and small still pose a great threat to consumers, hosting personal data that can be used for identity theft without protecting it properly.

However, there are a few ways you can still protect yourself, including using a VPN (read our ExpressVPN review to learn about our favorite one).

New Account Fraud

One of the most common forms of identity theft is new account fraud. Basically, it's when the attacker, using personal information obtained through one of various means, opens a new account with your name and personal information.

The most pressing new account fraud is when someone opens a bank account with your information. However, this term refers to any account fraud, including social media accounts and other online platforms. This is important because not all new account fraud specifically targets stealing money.

Fraud Losses

"Fraud losses" refers to any money lost related to fraud. In the case of identity theft, that includes money that the attacker steals in the victim's name, of course, but also any expenses incurred from lost work time and money invested in recovery.

Using fraud losses as a figure helps illustrate the economic impact of identity theft across the board, not just the expenses of a single victim.

The 20 Most Important Identity Theft Statistics

With some definitions and a small look at the future out of the way, let's run down the 20 most important identity theft statistics.

1. How Frequent Is Identity Theft?

Identity theft is one of the most frequent forms of cybercrime, with Javelin Strategy and Research estimating that there was a new victim of identity theft in the U.S. every two seconds in 2016.

For more concrete numbers, around 15 million people fell victim to identity theft each year in the U.S., according to data from Javelin Strategy and Research that was compiled by the Insurance Information Institute.

2. How Much Does Identity Theft Cost?

Identity fraud caused an economic loss of $16.9 billionin 2019, according to Javelin Strategy and Research. This is despite the fact that the percentage of people who fell victim to identity theft dropped in 2019, from a peak of 6.6 percent in 2017 to 5.1 percent in 2019.

3. Who Is Most at Risk for Identity Theft?

There are high-risk groups for identity theft for 2021. Although statistics are sparse, LifeLock claims there are four groups most at risk: Children, heavy social media users, high-income earners and the elderly. Data from the AARP backs up that last group, stating that 27 percent of respondents to a survey said they had been victims of some sort of identity fraud.

Children are becoming the most popular group targeted by cybercriminals. In 2017, one million children fell victim to identity theft in the U.S., resulting in $2.6 billion in losses.

4. Who Commits Identity Theft?

Criminals usually aren't willing to take a survey, so it shouldn't come as a surprise that the demographic makeup of identity theft schemers is largely unknown. It may happen in places you don't suspect, though.

Having access to information is the most important element when it comes to identity theft. In many cases, identity theft can come from someone you know (such as the case of a mother who opened $50,000 in credit using her son's information).

Other data backs up that someone you know is the most likely to commit identity theft. In 2018, the ITRC found that 45.5 percent of respondents who experienced identity theft felt they couldn't trust their family, and 55 percent said they couldn't trust their friends.

Victims of Identity Theft: Loss of Trust in Family & Friends
45.5% Couldn't Trust Family

55% Couldn't Trust Friends

At the risk of sounding too alarmist, just because others have experienced identity theft at the hands of people they know doesn't mean you will. Data is sparse, and regardless of who commits the crime, there are ways you can protect yourself (just read our IdentityForce review).

5. Most Common Types of Identity Theft

Data collected by the FTC and compiled by the Insurance Information Institute (III) shows that, in 2019, the most common form of identity theft was credit card fraud, which alone accounted for 45.7 percent of all reported identity theft cases. In second place are miscellaneous forms of identity theft, including online shopping fraud, insurance fraud and social media fraud.

The Most Common Forms of Identity Theft
45.7% Credit card fraud - new accounts

30.9% Miscellaneous identity theft*

8.2% Mobile telephone - new accounts

8.1% Business or personal loan

7.1% Auto loan or lease

*Miscellaneous identity theft includes online shopping and payment account fraud, email and social media fraud, and medical services, insurance and securities account fraud, and other identity theft

6. Identity Theft by State: Where Is Identity Theft Most Common?

In the early 2010s, Florida was the state with the most cases of identity theft per 100,000 people. However, in 2019, Georgia took the first spot, with 427 cases per 100,000 people. Florida takes second place in 2019, though, with California, Nevada and Texas following closely behind.

7. What Are the Odds of Getting Your Identity Stolen?

About one in 15 people fell victim to identity theft in the United States in 2019, according to IdentityForce. The odds are greater in the U.S. compared to other countries, though. U.S. identity theft rates are around twice as high as the global average and three times as high as Germany and France.

8. The Financial Impact of Identity Theft

In 2016, 26 percent of identity theft victims borrowed money from family or friends to pay for identity theft-related expenses, according to the Identity Theft Resource Center (ITRC), while 22 percent of victims also took time off of work and 6.7 percent of them took out a payday loan.

9. The Emotional Impact of Identity Theft

Although the economic impact of identity theft shows more clearly through statistics, the emotional distress an identity theft victim faces can't be understated. In its 2018 Aftermath report, the ITRC found that 84.1 percent of surveyed victims had trouble sleeping. Another 77.3 percent reported higher stress levels and 54.5 percent reported persistent aches and pains as well as increased fatigue.

The Negative Personal Impacts of Identity Theft

10. How Long Does It Take to Clear Identity Theft?

Clearing identity theft may take longer than you think. The ITRC's 2017 Aftermath report found that 61.9 percent of surveyed victims had yet to clear their identity theft. That's contrasted with 16.8 percent of those surveyed who resolved the issue within six months and 2.6 percent who took more than five years.

11. How Long Does it Take to Spot Identity Theft?

Of those surveyed in 2017 by the ITRC, 42.5 percent said that they discovered their identity theft within three months of the theft occurring. Although a hopeful statistic, it took 16.1 percent of participants more than three years.

12. Can You Have Your Identity Stolen More Than Once?

Although most identity theft victims only have their identity stolen once, a worrying number of victims fall victim again. Eva Velasquez, president and CEO of the ITRC, says that almost a quarter of all identity theft victims the ITRC surveyed were experiencing identity theft for a second time.

13. How Much Money Do Identity Theft Victims Earn?

In recent years, identity theft reports note a shift in the income levels that criminals target. The ITRC's 2017 Aftermath survey showed a large increase in the number of victims with a family income of less than $25,000.

In 2013, around 50 percent of respondents had an income of less than $50,000. By 2016, still, around 50 percent of respondents made under $50,000. However, 39.2 percent said they made less than $25,000, a stark increase from the 26.9 percent of people who made under that amount in 2013.

14. Does ID Theft Recovery Work?

Identity theft recovery can work, but most identity theft complaints are met with dissatisfaction. The ITRC found that around 43 percent of people were dissatisfied with the FTC, while 46 percent were dissatisfied with financial services, such as banks and credit unions.

15. How Expensive Are Stolen Credit Cards?

Symantec, the company behind Norton Security, found that a single stolen credit card can cost as little as $0.50 on the dark web. Cards with full details start at $1 and go up to $45, and magnetic stripe track data - the data associated with the stripe on the back of a credit card - costs anywhere from $5 to $60.

16. Identity Scams Are the Most Common in the U.S.

The FTC's Consumer Sentinel Network received more identity theft complaints than any other kind in 2019, accounting for over 20 percent of all complaints. Imposter scams - which are similar to identity theft, just without access to private information - accounted for another 20 percent of complaints.

Breakdown of Consumer Sentinel Network Reports
The Consumer Sentinel Network took in over 3.2 million reports in 2019.

53% Fraud: 1.7 million reports

20% Identity theft: 650,000 reports

27% Other: 900,000 reports

17. How Quickly Does Identity Theft Occur?

Despite the fact that it can take years before victims even realize they've had their identity stolen, account takeovers happen remarkably fast. Javelin Strategy and Research estimates that around 40 percent of all activity associated with account takeovers happens within a day of stealing information.

18. Formjacking Is on the Rise

Although traditional forms of stealing personal information remain a threat, a new threat is on the rise: formjacking. This attack allows hackers to inject JavaScript code into online forms and skim information that people enter into those forms.

Symantec found more than 4,800 unique websites were injected with formjacking code in 2018. As we'll get to next, most of these websites affected aren't from large corporations. The same Symantec report "shows that it is often small and medium-sized retailers" that fall victim.

19. Small Businesses Leak Personal Data, Too

Although large data breaches from companies like Dropbox are the most publicized, it doesn't mean corporate breaches are the only concern. CSIdentity found that around 60 percent of all attacks in 2014 targeted small to midsize businesses. Despite this, the same report found that 51 percent of small businesses don't invest any money in digital threat mitigation.

Yes, using social media is dangerous when it comes to identity theft. Javelin Strategy and Research found that digitally connected consumers have an account on around five different platforms. This alone, according to Javelin Strategy and Research, puts them at a 30 percent higher risk of fraud.

The Future of Identity Theft

Looking ahead to the future, the rates of identity theft will continue to grow - at least based on statistics from the past few years - and shift toward more "digitally infused" lives, as described by the AARP. It may not look the same, however. Instead of physical fraud, where the criminal physically seizes things like credit cards and social security cards, digital fraud is expected to grow.

Juniper Research estimates that card-not-present fraud - that being any card-related fraud where the physical card isn't required, such as an online translation - is estimated to reach $19.3 billion in losses by 2022. The firm also estimates that online payment fraud will grow 13.7 percent between 2017 and 2022.

It's not all bad news, though. As the statistics above show, many identity theft victims are dissatisfied with the recovery process, and the process itself can take several years. What we can gather from this data, if anything, is that prevention is the most effective way to combat identity theft.

How to Protect Against Identity Theft

We have a list of the best identity theft protection services, most of which monitor if your information was involved in a data breach as well as generate a number of fraud reports based on your accounts and personal risk. IdentityForce is our first pick, but Identity Guard is an excellent alternative (read our Identity Guard review).

Although we recommend paying for an identity theft protection service if you can - many of which even offer insurance policies - the reality is that lower-income households are dispositionally targeted for identity theft.

If you don't have the money to pay for a full service, read our guide on the best free identity theft protection. Overall, the paid solutions are better, but some protection is better than no protection.

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Identity Theft Statistics, Facts and Trends You Need to Know in 2021

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Identity theft is and will remain a large threat to online security. However, as attacks get more sophisticated, so do the security measures. Here, we've gathered the top identity theft statistics, trends and facts to keep you safe. Before getting to our stats, let's define what identity theft is and some important terms you should know.

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I found this video in 2012 when I hosted series of workshops for young people, on the digital tools, and I would still use it, 9 years later it's still relevant