As the threat of information leaks becomes more recognize with the increase in digital identify theft, the reactions of people to data being compromised are becoming more severe. Several months ago, the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs found itself in the stick situation of having copious amounts of private data lost when a laptop was stolen. While nothing short of time travel can repair mistakes of that nature, even though the culprits were arrested, the VA is getting assistance in future proofing themselves against it. A company called ID Analytics will be offering free ID monitoring to veterans, not only to help out the VA but also spread word about their product. Essentially they try to do a comprehensive "traces" of identities, beyond what is normally done:
The company does this by analyzing the data inside something it calls the "ID Network." This is a gigantic database that contains information from participating credit card companies, financial institutions, telecom companies, retail lenders, government agencies and, soon, health care agencies. ID Analytics started the ID Network about four years ago. It now contains more than 3 billion "identity elements" that cover where and how personal details have been used over time, Cook said.
Sounds almost spooky. Of course, they claim to have very tight security and strict policies on the use of the private data. Let's just hope they don't lose a laptop too. Will identify scanning become commonplace? Every bank or credit card company now seems to offer some form of fraud monitoring, and people are becoming more concerned over this time of crime.