David Fraser links to a MSN Money article on why identity theft is not the problem in Europe that it is in North America. To quote David’s summary:
Security numbers are for Social Security — period. Information is kept private. Credit bureaus aren’t wide open. Credit isn’t king.
The article also notes that the European inclination towards smart cards – an innovation that is inevitably coming to our markets – has also helped with security. Interestingly, one of the reasons smart cards were adopted so readily in Europe was because a comparatively antiquated telecomm system meant that the immediate verification that we get from POS devices that are attached to our modern telecomm network just wasn’t possible in Europe …
