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Recall North America, a global leader in information management, announced the results of a study commissioned by Recall North America and conducted by Harris Interactive.
 The survey asked 2,194 adults their views on identity theft, a serious issue that costs consumers and businesses millions of dollars annually, and can irretrievably destroy their credit. 9 out of 10 respondents are at least somewhat concerned about becoming a victim of identity theft and of those, nearly half were either extremely or very concerned about identity theft.
Recently, health care professionals' offices have begun asking for personal information from their patients, including social security and driver’s license numbers. 86 percent of those surveyed were at least somewhat concerned about the security of the information they provide to doctor’s offices. Nearly half of those were extremely/very concerned about the security of their confidential information.
“Identity theft remains a fundamental concern and potentially influences the way people live their lives,” said Recall North America President Mark Wesley. “Businesses, specifically medical and legal offices, have the responsibility to securely manage and protect their client’s confidential information.”
There are many things individuals can do to protect their identity.
* Protect your social security card and never carry it in your wallet
* Avoid “phishing” – Don’t give our your personal information over the phone or via e-mail unless you know the contact
* Always securely shred documents that contain your personal information
* Stop pre-approved credit card offers – call 1.888.567.8688 to be removed from credit bureau marketing lists
* Monitor bank and credit card statements – open them immediately to check for unauthorized usage
Businesses can take these steps to protect their customers’ documents.
* Update and make use of passwords on computers
* Protect software by using virus protection and run it on a regular basis
* As with your personal statements, also check carefully the company credit card statements
* Develop and maintain a document management system
“The number one thing businesses – namely physician’s offices and law firms - can do to ensure the security of their client’s information is to find a trusted industry leader in information management to store and destroy their documents,” said Tim McBride, Vice President and General Manager of Recall’s Secure Destruction Services.
“In addition to creating a partnership with a qualified vendor, businesses must educate themselves on the latest legislations. The risk and liability for not keeping abreast to current regulations poses far too great a risk.”
Survey Methodology
Harris Interactive(®) fielded the study on behalf of Recall from February 2-4, 2010 via its QuickQuery(SM) online omnibus service, interviewing a nationwide sample of 2,194 U.S. adults aged 18 years and older. Data were weighted using propensity score weighting to be representative of the total U.S. adult population on the basis of region, age within gender, education, household income, race/ethnicity, and propensity to be online. No estimates of theoretical sampling error can be calculated; a full methodology is available.
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