Missing persons - From the Editors - Editorial

HR Magazine, Dec, 2002 by Patrick Mirza

Victims of theft often use a single word to describe how they feel: violated. It's an appropriate term given that someone has entered their cars or homes--spaces that once seemed personal and safe--and taken something that seemed well protected, perhaps something that was valuable, something that seemed to be a very part of the victim.

Imagine, then, how victims feel when their identities are stolen. They haven't lost just a car stereo or a ring loaded with sentimental value. They've lost their very selves.

If you've ever lost your wallet and struggled to prove who you are--either to board a plane or obtain a new driver's license--you have some idea how these people feel. But you probably don't know that it can take hundreds of hours, spread out over years, to rectify all the problems associated with identity theft.

These burdens are enough to cause victims serious productivity and morale issues at work. But those problems will likely be even more pronounced if employers hold some measure of blame.

And that's a legitimate and increasing risk. The average company holds a great deal of personal information about its employees: Social Security numbers; bank account numbers for direct deposits; credit information obtained under the Fair Credit Reporting Act; names, addresses and dates of birth; etc. With so much data about so many people stored in one convenient place, employers present thieves with a potential goldmine of data from which to steal identities.

How serious is the potential problem? And what can employers do to prevent it? For more information, see Susan Wells' cover story on page 30.