Graham Titterington
Garlik launches service to protect citizens from identity theft online
Garlik, a UK-based company, has launched its first service aimed at protecting individuals from the perils of online identity theft. It gives its subscribers a statement of the information that is held about them in publicly accessible online sources - both on the Internet and at official sites such as government databases. It combines this information with guidance on avoiding identity theft.Comment: Garlik's founders were formerly CEO and CIO of Egg Bank and have an impressive record in consumer-facing online services. The government should take a keen interest in its progress, both to steer policy on information disclosure and to assist in law enforcement relating to identity theft. There is now a widespread criminal infrastructure built on stealing personal information from online sources and selling it to criminals who use it either for credit fraud or for creating a range of forged official documents, including passports, marriage certificates, birth certificates and driving licences. The initial reaction of people who subscribe to Garlik's services is likely to be one of astonishment at the volume of information that it discovers. Channelling this reaction into constructive protection is going to be hard. Garlik needs to give more guidance to navigate users through the mass of information it finds, alerting users to the priority issues and assisting them to find a remedy. Ultimately this remedy might involve lobbying for a change in the law, or for a change in the way in which government organisations publish personal information. This is a worthy initiative that deserves to succeed and which Ovum plans to monitor over the coming months.
