Personal information protection starts with our own actions, because once this information (including our credit and bank accounts, educational records, employment records, medical records, contact information, and ID's -- Social Security cards, driver's license and passport) is in the hands of others, we have little to no means of protecting it. It is your responsibility to know what others such as your school, place of employment, doctor's office, and bank are doing to protect your information.

Some of the common sense things we can do to keep our information private and out of the hands of thieves include:

• create strong passwords for online accounts
• shop safe on the Internet using secure online payment services
• stay aware of the risks of using the Internet and of social engineering tactics.

Many businesses claim they have products or services that can protect you, the consumer, from identity theft for a fee. However, be sceptical of these claims, because it's impossible to be completely safe from identity theft. All we can do is minimize the risk. Some of the methods the products claim to protect you are listed below and you can use these methods on your own, for free.

Credit Monitoring
Personal information is easy to steal, and it's valuable once stolen, especially the information that links you to your financial resources.  To make sure your personal financial information has not been used by a criminal, obtain a copy of your credit records by contacting the credit reporting agencies and requesting a credit report.  The federal Fair Credit Reporting Act enables you to obtain a free copy of your credit report annually from each of the three credit bureaus listed below.  When contacting the credit bureaus by telephone, please listen to the menus carefully and fully before making your request.  It may take up to two weeks to receive the report through the mail.  You can receive your credit reports on-line immediately by going to www.annualcreditreport.com and filling out the required information.

Contact information for the three major credit bureaus is listed below:

• Equifax - (800) 525-6285 or www.equifax.com
• Experian - (888) 397-3742 or www.experian.com
• TransUnion - (800) 680-7289 or www.transunion.com

You should review your report carefully for any suspicious activity.   Specifically, look for inquiries you didn’t initiate, accounts you didn’t open and unexplained debts on your accounts.  Also check to see that information such as name, address, Social Security number, employer, etc. are correct.  Inaccuracies in this information may also be due to typographical errors, but in any case it is important to correct the errors by notifying the credit bureau by telephone and in writing.

Fraud Alerts
Fraud alerts can be placed on your credit reports, so when a retailer or creditor checks your report in response to a request for a new credit card or financing for that plasma television, the fraud alert tells them to double-check that the person seeking credit is you. Ideally, the creditor delays extending credit until reaching you.

Alerts focus only on thieves opening new credit lines in your name, not the use of existing accounts. Also, some retailers don't check credit reports before extending credit and those that do don't always try to reach you -- they may just ask the thief some easy-to-answer questions. Still, alerts increase the chance you'll be contacted if someone applies for credit in your name.

Consumers can call or go online to each of the three credit-reporting agencies (Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion) to place a fraud alert for free. Generally, fraud alerts expire after 90 days.

Credit Freeze
If you reside in Massachusetts or another state where a law has been passed granting rights to consumers to freeze access to credit reports, this option is available to you. Consumers' access to a credit freeze is a strong component of any identity theft-fighting strategy. The credit freeze is a weapon that empowers consumers to stop the illegal activity of identity thieves and credit card fraudsters quickly and easily. Look for information about credit freezes on each of the credit bureaus' web sites.

If you want more detailed information about credit reports, fraud alerts and other issues related to disclosure of personal information, the Federal Trade Commission and the Social Security Administration have websites that provide information on steps you can take to address the threat of identity theft: www.consumer.gov/idtheft and www.ssa.gov/pubs/idtheft.htm.

If you need further information, you can email any questions to infoprotect@mit.edu  or call 617-324-3368. Your questions will be handled as promptly as possible.

For more information on protecting yourself from ID theft or other online criminal activity, see the tips listed on the IT Security @ MIT website.

Last updated September, 2009