Identity theft

Identity theft, identity piracy or identity infringement occurs when someone uses another person's personal identifying information, such as their name, identifying number, or credit card number, without their permission to commit fraud or other crimes. Coined in 1964, the term identity theft has been legally defined in both the UK and the U.S. as the theft of personally identifiable information. Identity theft involves deliberately using someone else's identity to gain financial advantages or obtain credit and other benefits. The person whose identity has been stolen may suffer adverse consequences, especially if they are held responsible for the perpetrator's actions. Personally identifiable information generally includes a person's name, date of birth, social security number, driver's license number, bank account or credit card numbers, PINs, electronic signatures, fingerprints, passwords, or any other information that can be used to access a person's financial resources.

Determining the link between data breaches and identity theft can be challenging, primarily because victims of identity theft often do not know how their personal information was obtained. According to a report done for the FTC, identity theft is not always detectable by the individual victims. Identity fraud is often, but not necessarily, the consequence of identity theft. Personal information can be stolen or misappropriated without being used to commit identity theft, such as when a major data breach occurs. A U.S. Government Accountability Office study determined that "most breaches have not resulted in detected incidents of identity theft".