Image via Wikipedia

Identity theft is a very common occurrence, and one that can cost you dearly.  So much so, that an entire industry has sprung up around helping you to keep your identity safe.

Maybe the US government should subsribe to some of these services?  Because it appears that they really don’t care about the safety of your identity.  Witness the loss of an employee’s portable hard drive containing Social Security numbers of more than 250,000 vets and more than a million doctors from the Department of Veteran’s Affairs in Birmingham, Alabama this past July.  Less than a year earlier, another VA employee in the Washington, D.C., area brought home a laptop computer that held the names, birth dates, and Social Security numbers of 26.5 million veterans, only to have it stolen from his house.

It’s not just our personal information, by the way, but also data with possible law enforcement or national security importance. A 2007 Justice Department audit found that the FBI was somehow losing 2.6 laptops per month, many with sensitive or classified information. More than 1,400 Energy Department laptops went missing in a six-year period, according to another audit. So much for homeland security.

While these sorts of stories have become rather well known due to the various media outlets, to date, nothing of any substance has occurred to protect us from such gross negligence (I was going to say “negligent government behavior” there - but that would be an oxymoron, wouldn’t it?)

Here are some ways to keep yourself safe from identity theft:

• Shred credit card information or any document with your Social Security number before throwing it away.
• Make lists of your credit cards and emergency phone numbers in case your wallet is lost or stolen.
• Check bank and credit card statements for suspicious charges, and order a copy of your credit report annually.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Groups: Personal data theft at record levels
• Stealing Credit From A Baby