An identity score is a system for detecting

identity theft Identity theft, identity piracy or identity infringement occurs when someone uses another's personal identifying information, like their name, identifying number, or credit card number, without their permission, to commit fraud or other crimes. ...

. Identity scores are increasingly being adopted as a means to prevent

fraud In law, fraud is intent (law), intentional deception to deprive a victim of a legal right or to gain from a victim unlawfully or unfairly. Fraud can violate Civil law (common law), civil law (e.g., a fraud victim may sue the fraud perpetrato ...

in business and as a tool to verify and correct

public records Public records are documents or pieces of information that are not considered confidential and generally pertain to the conduct of government. Depending on jurisdiction, examples of public records includes information pertaining to births, deat ...

. Identity scores incorporate, a broad set of

consumer A consumer is a person or a group who intends to order, or use purchased goods, products, or services primarily for personal, social, family, household and similar needs, who is not directly related to entrepreneurial or business activities. ...

data that gauges a person's legitimacy. Identity score components can include (but are not limited to)

personal identifier Personal Identifiers (PID) are a subset of personally identifiable information (PII) data elements, which identify an individual and can permit another person PIIs include direct identifiers (name, social security number) and indirect identifiers ( ...

Internet The Internet (or internet) is the Global network, global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a internetworking, network of networks ...

data Data ( , ) are a collection of discrete or continuous values that convey information, describing the quantity, quality, fact, statistics, other basic units of meaning, or simply sequences of symbols that may be further interpreted for ...

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...

records,

corporate A corporation or body corporate is an individual or a group of people, such as an association or company, that has been authorized by the state to act as a single entity (a legal entity recognized by private and public law as "born out of s ...

data, predicted behavior patterns based on empirical data, self-assessed behavior patterns, and credit records.

Business and consumer identity scores

Identity scoring was originally developed for use by financial services firms to measure the fraud risk for new customers opening accounts. Typical external credit and fraud checks often fail to detect erroneous background information. Identity scoring is also being tested as a means for financial institutions to comply with criminal investigations and antiterrorism measures, such as the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) and the USA PATRIOT Act. Usage of fraud verification tools and third-party

authentication Authentication (from ''authentikos'', "real, genuine", from αὐθέντης ''authentes'', "author") is the act of proving an Logical assertion, assertion, such as the Digital identity, identity of a computer system user. In contrast with iden ...

systems to verify identities and “red flag” suspicious activity is greatly enhanced by identity scoring.

Public records, private records, and credit records

Identity scores are built from collecting information from a variety of sources and analyzing discernible patterns from the total information. These records can generally be broken down into three categories:

Public records Public records are documents or pieces of information that are not considered confidential and generally pertain to the conduct of government. Depending on jurisdiction, examples of public records includes information pertaining to births, deat ...

, private records, and credit records. Public records can include (but are not limited to) any of the following sources: *Federal, state and local government records *Financial records like

bankruptcies Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the deb ...

liens A lien ( or ) is a form of security interest granted over an item of property to secure the payment of a debt or performance of some other obligation. The owner of the property, who grants the lien, is referred to as the ''lienee'' and the pers ...

and judgments *Property ownership records *Registered Voter Records *Law enforcement records for

felony A felony is traditionally considered a crime of high seriousness, whereas a misdemeanor is regarded as less serious. The term "felony" originated from English common law (from the French medieval word "''félonie''") to describe an offense that r ...

and

misdemeanor A misdemeanor (American English, spelled misdemeanour elsewhere) is any "lesser" criminal act in some common law legal systems. Misdemeanors are generally punished less severely than more serious felonies, but theoretically more so than admi ...

convictions Private (non-credit) records can include (but are not limited to) any of the following sources: *

Bill Bill(s) may refer to: Common meanings * Banknote, paper cash (especially in the United States) * Bill (law), a proposed law put before a legislature * Invoice, commercial document issued by a seller to a buyer * Bill, a bird or animal's beak Pl ...

and

utility In economics, utility is a measure of a certain person's satisfaction from a certain state of the world. Over time, the term has been used with at least two meanings. * In a normative context, utility refers to a goal or objective that we wish ...

payments *Collected personal information from

marketers Marketing is the act of acquiring, satisfying and retaining customers. It is one of the primary components of business management and commerce. Marketing is usually conducted by the seller, typically a retailer or manufacturer. Products can ...

or affiliates *Information provided to subscription-based Internet services *Billing information from medical services *Private background checks conducted by

human resource Human resources (HR) is the set of people who make up the workforce of an organization, business sector, industry, or economy. A narrower concept is human capital, the knowledge and skills which the individuals command. Similar terms include ' ...

departments Private (credit) records can include (but are not limited to) any of the following sources: *Information submitted to any or all

credit bureaus A credit bureau is a data collection agency that gathers account information from various creditors and provides that information to a consumer reporting agency in the United States, a credit reference agency in the United Kingdom, a credit report ...

or credit reporting agencies (

Equifax Equifax Inc. is an American multinational consumer credit reporting agency headquartered in Atlanta, Atlanta, Georgia and is one of the three largest consumer credit reporting agency, consumer credit reporting agencies, along with Experian and T ...

Experian Experian plc is a multinational corporation, multinational data broker and consumer credit reporting company headquartered in Dublin, Ireland. Experian collects and aggregates information on more than 1 billion people and businesses including ...

, Trans Union,

Innovis Innovis is the credit reporting division of CBC Companies and is considered the fourth largest consumer credit reporting agency in the United States, behind the “big three” Experian, TransUnion, and Equifax. Based in Columbus, Ohio, the co ...

, etc.) *“

Auto insurance Vehicle insurance (also known as car insurance, motor insurance, or auto insurance) is insurance for cars, trucks, motorcycles, and other road vehicles. Its primary use is to provide financial protection against physical damage or bodily injury ...

” underwriting scores generated from credit records

Components

Each identity scoring system uses individual data components to generate their score, meaning that results can vary wildly even for the same individual. Typical identity score components can include (but are not limited to): * Name components :

Personally identifying information Personal data, also known as personal information or personally identifiable information (PII), is any information related to an identifiable person. The abbreviation PII is widely used in the United States, but the phrase it abbreviates has fou ...

such as name, address, etc. * Behavioral use pattern components : Analyzed patterns of behavior from information. * Internet components : Personally identifying information found on the Internet, such as

Web sites A website (also written as a web site) is any web page whose content is identified by a common domain name and is published on at least one web server. Websites are typically dedicated to a particular topic or purpose, such as news, education, ...

blogs A blog (a Clipping (morphology), truncation of "weblog") is an informational website consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries also known as posts. Posts are typically displayed in Reverse chronology, reverse chronologic ...

chat rooms The term chat room, or chatroom (and sometimes group chat; abbreviated as GC), is primarily used to describe any form of synchronous conferencing, occasionally even asynchronous conferencing. The term can thus mean any technology, ranging from ...

, etc. * Hacker and fraud components : Personally identifying information that has been stolen in

data breach A data breach, also known as data leakage, is "the unauthorized exposure, disclosure, or loss of personal information". Attackers have a variety of motives, from financial gain to political activism, political repression, and espionage. There ...

es and may be used in recognizable patterns of fraud, such as unexplained credit card purchases * Synthetic identity components : Personally identifying information that is being used to create a new false (“synthetic”) identity.

Predictive analytics

Identity scores are sometimes calculated using

predictive analytics Predictive analytics encompasses a variety of Statistics, statistical techniques from data mining, Predictive modelling, predictive modeling, and machine learning that analyze current and historical facts to make predictions about future or other ...

, the science of taking behavioral data and comparing it against historical patterns to identify potentially risky or fraudulent activity. By compiling publicly available information and using predictive analytics to gauge the patterns of how the information is used, identity scoring systems can measure the authenticity of a particular identity.

Usage

Identity scoring can be used in a variety of ways, from identity verification and measuring fraud risk on the

enterprise Enterprise (or the archaic spelling Enterprize) may refer to: Business and economics Brands and enterprises * Enterprise GP Holdings, an energy holding company * Enterprise plc, a UK civil engineering and maintenance company * Enterpris ...

level, to preventing fraudulent use of identities and synthetic

on the consumer level. Identity scoring can theoretically provide much more definitive proof of an identity's legitimacy, because of the amount of identifying data it utilizes. Virtually all public information about an individual can be used as data in their identity score.

Credit scores

Credit scores A credit score is a numerical expression based on a level analysis of a person's credit files, to represent the creditworthiness of an individual. A credit score is primarily based on a credit report, information typically sourced from credit ...

are compiled from information sources relating to credit, such as number of credit accounts held, balances on each account, dates of collection activity, and so on. Credit scores do not measure any financial or personal activity that is not related to credit, and identity fraud that does not involve credit will not appear on your

credit report A credit history is a record of a borrower's responsible repayment of debts. A credit report is a record of the borrower's credit history from a number of sources, including banks, credit card companies, collection agencies, and governments. A bo ...

or affect your credit score. Credit scores and the credit scoring system are also very predictable—there are specific steps you follow to improve your credit score, dispute errors in credit reports, etc. Identity scores are compiled from much larger sources of information, including criminal records, property records, and so on. Identity scoring enables “grading” of patterns of behavior via predictive analytics, from which an identity monitoring service can track an individual's or criminal group's activity across several enterprises, instead of being confined to monitoring just one area. Identity scores are also much more mutable and “fuzzy” than credit scores, because the source information—public records and personally identifying information—is constantly changing. Every time an individual changes a job, buys or sells property, or has an encounter with law enforcement, this person's public records are altered. Coordinating the information across so many different sources makes it very difficult to fix errors in one's information once they occur. Where credit scores have a generally accepted model of a three-digit-number (used for the

FICO score A credit score is a number that provides a comparative estimate of an individual's creditworthiness based on an analysis of their credit report. It is an inexpensive and main alternative to other forms of consumer loan underwriting. Lenders, s ...

, the new

VantageScore VantageScore is a consumer Credit score in the United States, credit-scoring system in the United States, created through a joint venture of the three major credit bureaus (Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion). The model is managed and maintained by ...

, and credit bureaus' proprietary scores), identity scoring models vary wildly from product to product.

Identity theft

Identity scoring works by matching the information the user provides against billions of records in public

databases In computing, a database is an organized collection of data or a type of data store based on the use of a database management system (DBMS), the software that interacts with end users, applications, and the database itself to capture and ana ...

, ranging from property and tax records to Internet

search engines Search engines, including web search engines, selection-based search engines, metasearch engines, desktop search tools, and web portals and vertical market websites have a search facility for online databases. By content/topic Gene ...

, and calculating it against patterns designed to recognize fraud or identity theft. ''Example: John's name and

Social Security number In the United States, a Social Security number (SSN) is a nine-digit number issued to United States nationality law, U.S. citizens, Permanent residence (United States), permanent residents, and temporary (working) residents under section 205(c)(2 ...

were stolen by identity thieves who hacked a stolen

laptop A laptop computer or notebook computer, also known as a laptop or notebook, is a small, portable personal computer (PC). Laptops typically have a Clamshell design, clamshell form factor (design), form factor with a flat-panel computer scree ...

. They take her Social Security number and combine it with another stolen name, and use it to open a series of new accounts, including credit cards and retail

gift cards A gift card, also known as a gift certificate in North America, or gift voucher or gift token in the UK, is a prepaid stored-value money card, usually issued by a retailer or bank, to be used as an alternative to cash for purchases within a p ...

. An identity protection system that used identity scoring would alert Wendy that her Social Security number had been compromised.'' Because identity scores include much more accurate information and can predict behavior patterns more definitively than credit scores, the

Gartner Gartner, Inc. is an American research and advisory firm focusing on business and technology topics. Gartner provides its products and services through research reports, conferences, and consulting. Its clients include large corporations, gover ...

research firm predicted that identity scoring will surpass credit monitoring as the leading identity theft prevention measure by 2009. However, Gartner research analyst Avivah Litan warned that identity scoring was not a foolproof system, as it still relied on the underlying accuracy of the information used.

Breeder documents

There are three types of breeder documents, which are documents designed to verify other identification documents. * Civil : Birth, death, marriage certificates, and registered partnership certificates * Business: Legal status of a company * Other: Real estate, residence, etc. Reliance on these documents to verify identities is flawed, as there is no standardized means to verify that information contained in breeder documents is legitimate. Identity scoring can be used as a tool to authenticate identities on an independent level in cases of employment hiring and information verification. Currently there is no standard means to verify that information provided on an I-9 work document is legitimate, for example. The desire for industries to quickly hire cheap labor trumps any incentive a business has to check the credentials of their new hires, leading to a “gray market” for stolen identities and contributing to continuing surges in

illegal immigration Illegal immigration is the migration of people into a country in violation of that country's immigration laws, or the continuous residence in a country without the legal right to do so. Illegal immigration tends to be financially upward, wi ...

. Tools that employ identity scoring to verify that a person's name and Social Security number match, or that their I-9 data is correct, could cut down on the sale and misuse of personal information while enabling better enforcement of immigration law.

Business

The following companies make use of identity scoring products or systems in their businesses: *

: Experian’s Fraud Shield product cross-references from their 215-million-entry consumer credit database, and provides risk management and identity verification services from subscriber businesses, as well as an additional score product that combines information from both credit and fraud-related sources. *

Fair Isaac FICO (legal name: Fair Isaac Corporation), originally Fair, Isaac and Company, is an American data analytics company based in Bozeman, Montana, focused on credit scoring services. It was founded by Bill Fair and Earl Isaac in 1956. Its FICO sco ...

: Fair Isaac introduced the Falcon ID scoring solution in August 2004. Falcon ID uses predictive analytics in its fraud verification process, and enables cross-business information sharing, a benefit Fair Isaac touted as “very good news for businesses in many industries that are working to protect their customers from identity fraud, and very bad news for their common enemy, the perpetrators of ID fraud.” *MyPublicInfo : An identity protection company based in Arlington, VA, MyPublicInfo uses identity scoring as a base for several of its products. The company has announced plans for other consumer identity scoring products in 2007, but has not provided details.

References

*Fischetti, Mark. "Scoring Your Identity: New Tactics Root Out The False Use Of Personal Data," ''Scientific American'', March 2007. https://web.archive.org/web/20071015191230/http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?chanID=sa006&colID=5&articleID=C77C581B-E7F2-99DF-349A29510AE8D333 *Hargreaves, Steve. “Mistaken identity can lead to embarrassment, job loss, or worse—how to avoid it,” ''CNNMoney.com'', 2/6/07. http://money.cnn.com/2006/02/07/pf/mistaken_ID *Kraft, Harold. "Identity Scoring: The Better Defense Against Data Breaches," ''E-Commerce Times'', 2/15/07. http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/55770.html *Litan, Avivah. “Limit ID Fraud: Use ID Scoring, Not Credit Monitoring.” Gartner Research, July 13, 2006 *Pero, Jennifer. Who Are You ?, ''Government Security'', 7/1/02. http://govtsecurity.com/mag/article_2/ *Sullivan, Bob. “Her ATM card, but her impostor's picture,” From ''The Red Tape Chronicles'', 2/6/06. https://web.archive.org/web/20070314072132/http://redtape.msnbc.com/2006/02/her_atm_card_bu.html *Experian Fraud Shield : http://www.experian.com/products/pdf/fraud_shield_ps.pdf *"Thwarting Fraud Before It Happens," http://www.creditcollectionsworld.com/article.html?id=20061016CK18V3P1 *“Fair Isaac's Falcon ID Delivers New Level of Identity Theft Protection Across Industries,” ''Minneapolis Business Wire'', August 3, 2004. http://investors.fairisaac.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=67528&p=irol-newsArticle&t=Regular&id=599964& {{DEFAULTSORT:Identity Score Credit Identity management Internet privacy