Shouting after the horse has bolted is not ID protection

While I commend Secure Identity Systems on their efforts and encourage ID protection programs,  I fail to see much use for a system which merely shouts from the gate saying 'Your identity is gone!' Not even shutting the gate, just telling you too late after the horse has bolted.

It may give you the opportunity to minimise the damage, although I'm not quite sure how.  Once the information is out there, who can tell when the next attempt will be made, and finding out 24 hours later is not my idea of protection.

I would prefer a more active system which involved the person in any use of their identity. Credit Bureau's should not be in the business of providing credit ratings for imposters.

Active participation - authorisation from the individual before any information or reference score is provided to any potential credit provider or third party should be the primary rule.

That is how we can prevent identity theft before it happens, and significantly increase the likelihood that the perpetrator will be caught in the act.

Real time is what it is - real time. It's time to get real with ID theft and nip it in the bud before consumers have to go through the post-ID-theft-blues and try to repair the damage. 

Who has a right to assist criminals perpetrating identity theft? If they (the bureaus) don't  want to notify you before they deal with your information and possibly assist an identity thief, then they should not dealing with your information - period.

It could easily be accomplished at very low cost. Certainly <.00001% of the cost of fixing a stolen ID and ruined credit history. 

Ask yourself the question - Would the fraudster succeed in getting credit in your name without the help of the credit reference provider?

Would a merchant (or anyone) extend credit to someone without a reference and credit score? 

It's time for the Credit Scoring companies to take responsibility for their actions and bring the individual into the picture and empower them to stop fraud through identity theft. Individuals could be notified quickly at low cost and there is no longer any excuse not too.

Who's going to step into the 21st century first?