wildercb/PrivacyTextBooks1.2 · Datasets at Hugging Face

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after it occurs. That strategy is not working.
The law’s main tool for combating identity theft has been to criminalize
it. In 1998, the federal government enacted the Identity Theft and Identity
Theft and Assumption Deterrence Act. The law makes it a federal crime to
“knowingly transfer or use, without lawful authority, a means of
identification of another person with the intent to commit, or to aid or abet,
any unlawful activity that constitutes a violation of Federal law, or that
constitutes a felony under any applicable State or local law.”29
Following the federal law, most states passed their own laws
criminalizing identity theft. Before 1998, only three states had such laws.
By 2002, the number had grown to 44 states.30 Today, all 50 states have
criminalized identity theft.31
These laws are more an exercise in optics than a meaningful way to
combat identity theft. Criminal law already had many tools to address
identity theft prior to these laws because identity theft falls under criminal
fraud laws. In other words, identity theft was a crime long before the states
created special new laws to criminalize it.
The problem with using criminal law to combat identity theft is that it is
too little, too late. Identity thieves are not deterred by criminal laws because
they can so readily avoid detection. Identity thieves could be anywhere—in
a different city, a different state, or even a different country. The thieves are
very hard to track down.
Suppose you live in a city and are victimized by identity theft. You
complain to the local police department. Unfortunately, the police lack the
time and resources to start hunting around the world to locate the thief.
They have murders, robberies, and violent crimes to solve. Identity theft
isn’t a priority.
Suppose you are lucky, and the police devote the time to do a thorough
investigation. They track down the thief’s location to a small town in
another state. The police aren’t going to travel to this town to find the thief.
At best, they will call the police in the thief’s town for help. But those
police officers have their own criminal cases to investigate; their first
priority is to help people in their own town, not someone who lives in a city
far away.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
But let us suppose that the police in the town decide to invest their time
and resources to help. By the time of the investigation, which often is a long
time after the fraud occurred, the thief likely is long gone. Many identity
thieves are not even in a different town or state—they might be in other
countries, which makes them even more difficult to track down.
The result is that hardly any identity thieves are convicted. In one
estimate, only about one percent of instances of identity theft result in a
conviction.32 Identity thieves know that they will rarely ever get caught.
The chorus of laws criminalizing identity theft may sound quite
harmonious, but they are little more than useless background music that has
barely any effect on reducing the amount of identity theft.
HOW THE LAW FACILITATES IDENTITY THEFT
The law is more than merely ineffective at preventing identity theft; the
problem with the law is far worse—in fact, it’s quite outrageous. The law
actually facilitates identity theft.
The Worst Password Ever Created

Every year, SplashData compiles a list of the most commonly used bad
passwords based on leaked passwords. Year after year, the same bad
passwords dominate the list. A few shuffle up or down, but there isn’t much
change. Here are the most common worst 10 for 2018:
123456
password
123456789
12345678
12345
11111
1234567
sunshine
qwerty
iloveyou
Other popular candidates include “princess,” “monkey,” “password1,”
“welcome,” and “football.”33
These passwords are bad—really bad. But none are the worst password
ever created. So, what is the worst password in all of human history?
The Social Security Number (SSN) is the worst password ever created,
and it is a creation of the law. The federal government created the SSN in
1936 as part of the Social Security System. The SSN wasn’t designed to be
a password—it was created to be used in conjunction with a person’s name
to make sure that information about people with the same name wouldn’t
get mixed up.
Over time, unfortunately, businesses and government agencies began to
use the SSN to authenticate identity. Countless companies and organizations
still use people’s SSNs to verify that people are really who they say they
are.34 If you know your SSN, the assumption goes, then you must be you.
The irony is that the SSN was designed to be part of a username, and now
it’s being used as a password.35
Congress has sat idly by as the SSN has been misused. In 1974, when
Congress passed the Privacy Act, there was a provision in the bill that
would have restricted organizations from misusing SSNs. But this provision
was dropped before the Privacy Act was passed.36
As a password, the SSN is just a nine-digit number, no better than the
sixth most popular password: 123456789. Here it is as an SSN: 123-45-
6789. A random string of numbers is probably not enough entropy (lack of
order or predictability) to prevent the password from being guessed or
otherwise cracked.37 Professors Alessandro Acquisti and Ralph Gross

after it occurs. That strategy is not working.

The law’s main tool for combating identity theft has been to criminalize

it. In 1998, the federal government enacted the Identity Theft and Identity

Theft and Assumption Deterrence Act. The law makes it a federal crime to

“knowingly transfer or use, without lawful authority, a means of

identification of another person with the intent to commit, or to aid or abet,

any unlawful activity that constitutes a violation of Federal law, or that

constitutes a felony under any applicable State or local law.”29

Following the federal law, most states passed their own laws

criminalizing identity theft. Before 1998, only three states had such laws.

By 2002, the number had grown to 44 states.30 Today, all 50 states have

criminalized identity theft.31

These laws are more an exercise in optics than a meaningful way to

combat identity theft. Criminal law already had many tools to address

identity theft prior to these laws because identity theft falls under criminal

fraud laws. In other words, identity theft was a crime long before the states

created special new laws to criminalize it.

The problem with using criminal law to combat identity theft is that it is

too little, too late. Identity thieves are not deterred by criminal laws because

they can so readily avoid detection. Identity thieves could be anywhere—in

a different city, a different state, or even a different country. The thieves are

very hard to track down.

Suppose you live in a city and are victimized by identity theft. You

complain to the local police department. Unfortunately, the police lack the

time and resources to start hunting around the world to locate the thief.

They have murders, robberies, and violent crimes to solve. Identity theft

isn’t a priority.

Suppose you are lucky, and the police devote the time to do a thorough

investigation. They track down the thief’s location to a small town in

another state. The police aren’t going to travel to this town to find the thief.

At best, they will call the police in the thief’s town for help. But those

police officers have their own criminal cases to investigate; their first

priority is to help people in their own town, not someone who lives in a city

far away.

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

But let us suppose that the police in the town decide to invest their time

and resources to help. By the time of the investigation, which often is a long

time after the fraud occurred, the thief likely is long gone. Many identity

thieves are not even in a different town or state—they might be in other

countries, which makes them even more difficult to track down.

The result is that hardly any identity thieves are convicted. In one

estimate, only about one percent of instances of identity theft result in a

conviction.32 Identity thieves know that they will rarely ever get caught.

The chorus of laws criminalizing identity theft may sound quite

harmonious, but they are little more than useless background music that has

barely any effect on reducing the amount of identity theft.

HOW THE LAW FACILITATES IDENTITY THEFT

The law is more than merely ineffective at preventing identity theft; the

problem with the law is far worse—in fact, it’s quite outrageous. The law

actually facilitates identity theft.

The Worst Password Ever Created

Every year, SplashData compiles a list of the most commonly used bad

passwords based on leaked passwords. Year after year, the same bad

passwords dominate the list. A few shuffle up or down, but there isn’t much

change. Here are the most common worst 10 for 2018:

123456

password

123456789

12345678

12345

11111

1234567

sunshine

qwerty

iloveyou

Other popular candidates include “princess,” “monkey,” “password1,”

“welcome,” and “football.”33

These passwords are bad—really bad. But none are the worst password

ever created. So, what is the worst password in all of human history?

The Social Security Number (SSN) is the worst password ever created,

and it is a creation of the law. The federal government created the SSN in

1936 as part of the Social Security System. The SSN wasn’t designed to be

a password—it was created to be used in conjunction with a person’s name

to make sure that information about people with the same name wouldn’t

get mixed up.

Over time, unfortunately, businesses and government agencies began to

use the SSN to authenticate identity. Countless companies and organizations

still use people’s SSNs to verify that people are really who they say they

are.34 If you know your SSN, the assumption goes, then you must be you.

The irony is that the SSN was designed to be part of a username, and now

it’s being used as a password.35

Congress has sat idly by as the SSN has been misused. In 1974, when

Congress passed the Privacy Act, there was a provision in the bill that

would have restricted organizations from misusing SSNs. But this provision

was dropped before the Privacy Act was passed.36

As a password, the SSN is just a nine-digit number, no better than the

sixth most popular password: 123456789. Here it is as an SSN: 123-45-

6789. A random string of numbers is probably not enough entropy (lack of

order or predictability) to prevent the password from being guessed or

otherwise cracked.37 Professors Alessandro Acquisti and Ralph Gross