The Identity Theft Act is a US law passed in 1998 to protect individuals and businesses from identity theft. It makes it illegal to commit fraud using personal information and provides for sentences and fines. Other countries have also enacted laws to combat identity theft.
The Identity Theft Act is a legislative mandate passed in the United States designed to offer protection from identity theft for individuals and businesses. Fully titled the Identity Theft and Assumption Deterrence Act, it was passed by the US Congress and signed into law by President Bill Clinton in 1998. An amendment to the law was enacted in 2003.
Following Federal Trade Commission testimony before the US Senate, federal officials felt it necessary to address growing concerns about identity theft. Consumers were being exploited at an increasing rate during the late 1990s and early 2000s, primarily due to increased access to computers that now housed detailed information about individuals and their financial records. Among some of the more common practices of identity theft abuse are several forms of fraud.
Under the Identity Theft Act legislation, offenses involving loans, mortgages, credit cards and lines of credit had to be prosecuted according to the law. While these activities were already illegal, the Identity Theft Act added more crimes by which people could be prosecuted if caught. Title 18 of the United States Code was amended to include any fraud committed using identification documents or personal information. It also made it illegal to knowingly transfer this information to other people without permission, regardless of intent.
Federal law, as established by the statutes of the Identity Theft Act, is limited to specific parameters. In particular, the stolen identification must be issued by a business or government agency in the United States. The criminal must also have the intent to defraud a person, business or government agency within the country. Criminals can be charged if they commit identity theft in the mail, across state lines, or internationally.
The Identity Theft Act provides for sentences of five, 15, 20 or 30 years depending on the crime. It also requires fines determined by certain factors such as the extent of the financial inequality caused. In extreme cases, there is even a law defining certain incidents as “aggravated identity theft” which allows for consecutive sentences to be enforced against the offenders.
Many countries outside the United States have also enacted laws and regulations regarding identity theft. Australia passed the Criminal Code Amendment Act in 2000, Canada passed the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act the same year, India passed the Information Technology Act 2000, and the UK passed the Data Protection Act Act in 1998. Most of these countries work together in international identity theft crimes to ensure cross-border enforcement.
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