Identity score
Encyclopedia
An identity score is a system for detecting identity theft
. Identity scores are increasingly being adopted as a means to prevent fraud
in business and as a tool to verify and correct public records
.
Identity scores incorporate a broad set of consumer
data that gauges a person’s legitimacy. Identity score components can include (but are not limited to) personal identifiers
, public records
, Internet
data
, government
records, corporate data, predicted behavior patterns based on empiric data, self-assessed behavior patterns, and credit records
.
Identity scoring is also being tested as a means for financial institutions to comply with criminal investigations and antiterrorism measures such as the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA)
and the USA PATRIOT Act
. Usage of fraud verification
tools and third-party authentication
systems to verify identities and “red flag” suspicious activity is greatly enhanced by identity scoring.
, private records, and credit records.
Public records can include (but are not limited to) any of the following sources:
Typical identity score components can include (but are not limited to):
, the science of taking behavioral data and comparing it against historical patterns to identify potentially risky or fraudulent activity.
By compiling publicly available information and using predictive analytics to gauge the patterns of how the information is used, identity scoring systems can measure the authenticity
of a particular identity.
level, to preventing fraudulent use of identities and synthetic identity theft
on the consumer level. Identity scoring can theoretically provide much more definitive proof of an identity’s legitimacy, because of the amount of identifying data it utilizes. Virtually all public information about an individual can be used as data in their identity score.
Identity scores are compiled from much larger sources of information, including criminal records, property records, and so on. Identity scoring enables “grading” of patterns of behavior via predictive analytics, from which an identity monitoring service can track an individual’s or criminal group’s activity across several enterprises, instead of being confined to monitoring just one area.
Identity scores are also much more mutable and “fuzzy” than credit scores, because the source information—public records and personally identifying information—is constantly changing. Every time an individual changes a job, buys or sells property, or has an encounter with law enforcement, their public records are altered. Coordinating the information across so many different sources makes it very difficult to fix errors in one’s information once they occur.
Where credit scores have a generally accepted model of a three-digit-number (used for the FICO score, the new VantageScore
, and credit bureaus' proprietary scores), identity scoring models vary wildly from product to product.
Example: Wendy's name and Social Security number
were stolen by identity thieves who hacked a stolen laptop
. They take her Social Security number and combine it with another stolen name, and use it to open a series of new accounts, including credit cards and retail gift cards. An identity protection system that used identity scoring would alert Wendy that her Social Security number had been compromised.
Because identity scores include much more accurate information and can predict behavior patterns more definitively than credit scores, the Gartner
research firm predicted that identity scoring will surpass credit monitoring as the leading identity theft prevention measure by 2009. However, Gartner research analyst Avivah Litan warned that identity scoring was not a foolproof system, as it still relied on the underlying accuracy of the information used.
Currently there is no standard means to verify that information provided on an I-9
work document is legitimate, for example. The desire for industries to quickly hire cheap labor trumps any incentive a business has to check the credentials of their new hires, leading to a “gray market” for stolen identities and contributing to continuing surges in illegal immigration
. Tools that employ identity scoring to verify that a person’s name and Social Security number match, or that their I-9 data is correct, could cut down on the sale and misuse of personal information while enabling better enforcement of immigration law.
Identity theft
Identity theft is a form of stealing another person's identity in which someone pretends to be someone else by assuming that person's identity, typically in order to access resources or obtain credit and other benefits in that person's name...
. Identity scores are increasingly being adopted as a means to prevent fraud
Fraud
In criminal law, a fraud is an intentional deception made for personal gain or to damage another individual; the related adjective is fraudulent. The specific legal definition varies by legal jurisdiction. Fraud is a crime, and also a civil law violation...
in business and as a tool to verify and correct public records
Public records
Public records are documents or pieces of information that are not considered confidential. For example, in California, when a couple fills out a marriage license application, they have the option of checking the box as to whether the marriage is "confidential" or "Public"...
.
Identity scores incorporate a broad set of consumer
Consumer
Consumer is a broad label for any individuals or households that use goods generated within the economy. The concept of a consumer occurs in different contexts, so that the usage and significance of the term may vary.-Economics and marketing:...
data that gauges a person’s legitimacy. Identity score components can include (but are not limited to) personal identifiers
Personal Identifiers (PID)
Personal Identifiers also known as PID are a subset of personally identifiable information data elements that identify a unique individual and can permit another person to “assume” that individual’s identity without their knowledge or consent....
, public records
Public records
Public records are documents or pieces of information that are not considered confidential. For example, in California, when a couple fills out a marriage license application, they have the option of checking the box as to whether the marriage is "confidential" or "Public"...
, Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
data
Data
The term data refers to qualitative or quantitative attributes of a variable or set of variables. Data are typically the results of measurements and can be the basis of graphs, images, or observations of a set of variables. Data are often viewed as the lowest level of abstraction from which...
, government
Government
Government refers to the legislators, administrators, and arbitrators in the administrative bureaucracy who control a state at a given time, and to the system of government by which they are organized...
records, corporate data, predicted behavior patterns based on empiric data, self-assessed behavior patterns, and credit records
Credit history
Credit history or credit report is, in many countries, a record of an individual's or company's past borrowing and repaying, including information about late payments and bankruptcy...
.
Business and consumer identity scores
Identity scoring was originally developed for use by financial services firms, to measure the fraud risk for new customers opening accounts. Typical external credit and fraud checks often fail to detect erroneous background information.Identity scoring is also being tested as a means for financial institutions to comply with criminal investigations and antiterrorism measures such as the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA)
Bank Secrecy Act
The Bank Secrecy Act of 1970 requires financial institutions in the United States to assist U.S. government agencies to detect and prevent money laundering...
and the USA PATRIOT Act
USA PATRIOT Act
The USA PATRIOT Act is an Act of the U.S. Congress that was signed into law by President George W. Bush on October 26, 2001...
. Usage of fraud verification
Third-party verification
Third party verification is a process of getting an independent party to confirm that the customer is actually requesting a change or ordering a new service or product...
tools and third-party authentication
Authentication
Authentication is the act of confirming the truth of an attribute of a datum or entity...
systems to verify identities and “red flag” suspicious activity is greatly enhanced by identity scoring.
Public records, private records, and credit records
Identity scores are built from collecting information from a variety of sources and analyzing discernible patterns from the total information. These records can generally be broken down into three categories: Public recordsPublic records
Public records are documents or pieces of information that are not considered confidential. For example, in California, when a couple fills out a marriage license application, they have the option of checking the box as to whether the marriage is "confidential" or "Public"...
, private records, and credit records.
Public records can include (but are not limited to) any of the following sources:
- Federal, state and local government records
- Financial records like bankruptcies, liens and judgments
- Property ownership records
- Registered Voter Records
- Law enforcement records for felonyFelonyA felony is a serious crime in the common law countries. The term originates from English common law where felonies were originally crimes which involved the confiscation of a convicted person's land and goods; other crimes were called misdemeanors...
and misdemeanorMisdemeanorA misdemeanor is a "lesser" criminal act in many common law legal systems. Misdemeanors are generally punished much less severely than felonies, but theoretically more so than administrative infractions and regulatory offences...
convictions - Private (non-credit) records can include (but are not limited to) any of the following sources:
- BillBill (payment)A bill or invoice is a document requesting payment for an order previously supplied. Presentation of a bill is common practice on the part of credit card companies, utilities, and other service providers...
and utilityUtilityIn economics, utility is a measure of customer satisfaction, referring to the total satisfaction received by a consumer from consuming a good or service....
payments - Collected personal information from marketers or affiliates
- Information provided to subscription-based Internet services
- Billing information from medical services
- Private background checks conducted by human resourceHuman resource managementHuman Resource Management is the management of an organization's employees. While human resource management is sometimes referred to as a "soft" management skill, effective practice within an organization requires a strategic focus to ensure that people resources can facilitate the achievement of...
departments - Private (credit) records can include (but are not limited to) any of the following sources:
- Information submitted to any or all credit bureaus or credit reporting agencies (EquifaxEquifaxEquifax Inc. is a consumer credit reporting agency in the United States, considered one of the three largest American credit agencies along with Experian and TransUnion. Founded in 1899, Equifax is the oldest of the three agencies and gathers and maintains information on over 400 million credit...
, ExperianExperianExperian plc, formerly known as CCN Systems, is a global credit information group with operations in 36 countries. The company employs 15,500 people with corporate headquarters in Dublin, Ireland and operational headquarters in Nottingham, England and Costa Mesa, California, US...
, Trans Union, Innovis, etc.) - “Auto insurance” underwriting scores generated from credit records
Components
Each identity scoring system uses individual data components to generate their score, meaning that results can vary wildly even for the same individual.Typical identity score components can include (but are not limited to):
- Name components
- Personally identifying information such as name, address, etc.
- Behavioral use pattern components
- Analyzed patterns of behavior from information.
- Internet components
- Personally identifying information found on the Internet, such as Web sites, blogs, chat rooms, etc.
- Hacker and fraud components
- Personally identifying information that has been stolen in data breaches and may be used in recognizable patterns of fraud, such as unexplained credit cardCredit cardA credit card is a small plastic card issued to users as a system of payment. It allows its holder to buy goods and services based on the holder's promise to pay for these goods and services...
purchases- Synthetic identity components
- Personally identifying information that is being used to create a new false (“synthetic”) identity.
Predictive analytics
Identity scores are sometimes calculated using predictive analyticsPredictive analytics
Predictive analytics encompasses a variety of statistical techniques from modeling, machine learning, data mining and game theory that analyze current and historical facts to make predictions about future events....
, the science of taking behavioral data and comparing it against historical patterns to identify potentially risky or fraudulent activity.
By compiling publicly available information and using predictive analytics to gauge the patterns of how the information is used, identity scoring systems can measure the authenticity
Authentication
Authentication is the act of confirming the truth of an attribute of a datum or entity...
of a particular identity.
Usage
Identity scoring can be used in a variety of ways, from identity verification and measuring fraud risk on the enterpriseCompany
A company is a form of business organization. It is an association or collection of individual real persons and/or other companies, who each provide some form of capital. This group has a common purpose or focus and an aim of gaining profits. This collection, group or association of persons can be...
level, to preventing fraudulent use of identities and synthetic identity theft
Identity theft
Identity theft is a form of stealing another person's identity in which someone pretends to be someone else by assuming that person's identity, typically in order to access resources or obtain credit and other benefits in that person's name...
on the consumer level. Identity scoring can theoretically provide much more definitive proof of an identity’s legitimacy, because of the amount of identifying data it utilizes. Virtually all public information about an individual can be used as data in their identity score.
Credit scores
Credit scores are compiled from information sources relating to credit, such as number of credit accounts held, balances on each account, dates of collection activity, and so on. Credit scores do not measure any financial or personal activity that is not related to credit, and identity fraud that does not involve credit will not appear on your credit report or affect your credit score. Credit scores and the credit scoring system are also very predictable—there are specific steps you follow to improve your credit score, dispute errors in credit reports, etc.Identity scores are compiled from much larger sources of information, including criminal records, property records, and so on. Identity scoring enables “grading” of patterns of behavior via predictive analytics, from which an identity monitoring service can track an individual’s or criminal group’s activity across several enterprises, instead of being confined to monitoring just one area.
Identity scores are also much more mutable and “fuzzy” than credit scores, because the source information—public records and personally identifying information—is constantly changing. Every time an individual changes a job, buys or sells property, or has an encounter with law enforcement, their public records are altered. Coordinating the information across so many different sources makes it very difficult to fix errors in one’s information once they occur.
Where credit scores have a generally accepted model of a three-digit-number (used for the FICO score, the new VantageScore
VantageScore
VantageScore is the name of a credit rating product that is offered by the three major credit bureaus . The product was unveiled by the three bureaus on 14 March 2006...
, and credit bureaus' proprietary scores), identity scoring models vary wildly from product to product.
Identity theft
Identity scoring works by matching the information the user provides against billions of records in public databases, ranging from property and tax records to Internet search engines, and calculating it against patterns designed to recognize fraud or identity theft.Example: Wendy's name and Social Security number
Social Security number
In the United States, a Social Security number is a nine-digit number issued to U.S. citizens, permanent residents, and temporary residents under section 205 of the Social Security Act, codified as . The number is issued to an individual by the Social Security Administration, an independent...
were stolen by identity thieves who hacked a stolen laptop
Laptop
A laptop, also called a notebook, is a personal computer for mobile use. A laptop integrates most of the typical components of a desktop computer, including a display, a keyboard, a pointing device and speakers into a single unit...
. They take her Social Security number and combine it with another stolen name, and use it to open a series of new accounts, including credit cards and retail gift cards. An identity protection system that used identity scoring would alert Wendy that her Social Security number had been compromised.
Because identity scores include much more accurate information and can predict behavior patterns more definitively than credit scores, the Gartner
Gartner
Gartner, Inc. is an information technology research and advisory firm headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut, United States. It was known as GartnerGroup until 2001....
research firm predicted that identity scoring will surpass credit monitoring as the leading identity theft prevention measure by 2009. However, Gartner research analyst Avivah Litan warned that identity scoring was not a foolproof system, as it still relied on the underlying accuracy of the information used.
Breeder documents
Reliance on “breeder documents” (documents designed to verify other documents) to verify identities is flawed, as there is no standardized means to verify that information contained in breeder documents is legitimate. Identity scoring can be used as a tool to authenticate identities on an independent level in cases of employment hiring and information verification.Currently there is no standard means to verify that information provided on an I-9
I-9 (form)
The Employment Eligibility Verification Form I-9 is a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services form. It is used by an employer to verify an employee's identity and to establish that the worker is eligible to accept employment in the United States....
work document is legitimate, for example. The desire for industries to quickly hire cheap labor trumps any incentive a business has to check the credentials of their new hires, leading to a “gray market” for stolen identities and contributing to continuing surges in illegal immigration
Illegal immigration
Illegal immigration is the migration into a nation in violation of the immigration laws of that jurisdiction. Illegal immigration raises many political, economical and social issues and has become a source of major controversy in developed countries and the more successful developing countries.In...
. Tools that employ identity scoring to verify that a person’s name and Social Security number match, or that their I-9 data is correct, could cut down on the sale and misuse of personal information while enabling better enforcement of immigration law.
Business
The following companies make use of identity scoring products or systems in their businesses:- Experian
- Experian’s Fraud Shield product cross-references from their 215-million-entry consumer credit database, and provides risk management and identity verification services from subscriber businesses, as well as an additional score product that combines information from both credit and fraud-related sources.
- e-Merges fraud prevention product, "Electorate" is an authentication of self reported data with implicit authorization to access and validate it through public records.
- Fair IsaacFair IsaacFair Isaac Corporation is a public company that provides analytics and decision making services—including credit scoring—intended to help financial services companies make complex, high-volume decisions.- History :...
- Fair Isaac
- Fair Isaac introduced the Falcon ID scoring solution in August 2004. Falcon ID uses predictive analytics in its fraud verification process, and enables cross-business information sharing, a benefit Fair Isaac touted as “very good news for businesses in many industries that are working to protect their customers from identity fraud, and very bad news for their common enemy, the perpetrators of ID fraud.”
- The company's industry standard ID Score(r) is trusted by leading organizations to identify and prevent identity fraud. MyIDScore.com is a free service that gives consumers immediate insight into their risk of identity fraud.
- MyPublicInfo
- An identity protection company based in Arlington, VA, MyPublicInfo uses identity scoring as a base for several of its products. The company has announced plans for other consumer identity scoring products in 2007, but has not provided details.