Identity theft: no help for consumers

Abstract

Identity theft is a growing problem in the American economy. While there have been attempts to address and minimize the problem, those attempts have focused on making identity theft a crime. This paper discusses the inadequacy of this approach from the perspective of individual victims of identity theft, and the fact that the law currently provides those victims little recourse or remedy for the harms they suffer. It also offers a proposal for legislation that would provide some remedy as well as an incentive to protect consumer identity information.