Welcome to the Design Runway Identity Theft Center. This site was created to offer resources on Identity Theft, including information related to minimizing risks of fraud and ID theft incurred by the use of technology.

Identity theft is a serious crime, but it is not a new phenomena. Many perceive identity theft as a problem of the 90’s and one created by the prevalent use of computers. This perception is inaccurate. Check fraud and other forms of fraudulent use of another person’s identity extends past the life of computers.

Another common misconception is that technology has reduced the risk of frauds using another person’s identity. With due consideration given to incredible variance for computer skills found in users and the technology at their fingertips, many experts believe that it is easier to commit fraud today than in the past.

For example, nearly every operating system released today comes bundled with software enabling the end-user to create and host their own web sites, and send and operate their own e-mail server. This is done without consideration as to whether these machines ought to have this software, and whether these users ought to have this functionality accessible within 5 minutes of installation. Furthermore, technological innovations have allowed users to expand their technical abilities and increase their production, but it also opened a myriad of issues. These issues include data stored in databanks, transactions that occur in the e-commerce “marketplace”, and relationships set up in trust by nothing more than a domain name and an email address.

One of the goals of the site is to seek legislative or judicial assistance with curtailing the personal information collected, stored, sold and left unprotected by third-party firms on individuals and businesses.