Editing Identity theft (section)

=== United Kingdom ===
In the United Kingdom, personal data is protected by the [[Data Protection Act 1998]]. The Act covers all personal data which an organization may hold, including names, birthday and anniversary dates, addresses, and telephone numbers.

Under [[English law]] (which extends to [[Wales]] but not to [[Northern Ireland]] or [[Scotland]]), the [[Deception (criminal law)|deception]] offences under the [[Theft Act 1968]] increasingly contend with identity theft situations. In ''R v Seward'' (2005) EWCA Crim 1941,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWCA/Crim/2005/1941.html|title=Seward, R. v [2005] EWCA Crim 1941 (11 July 2005)|accessdate=25 December 2023}}</ref> the defendant was acting as the "frontman" in the use of stolen credit cards and other documents to obtain goods. He obtained goods to the value of £10,000 for others who are unlikely ever to be identified. The Court of Appeal considered a sentencing policy for deception offenses involving "identity theft" and concluded that a prison sentence was required. Henriques J. said at para 14: "Identity fraud is a particularly pernicious and prevalent form of dishonesty calling for, in our judgment, deterrent sentences."

Statistics released by [[CIFAS]] (UK's Fraud Prevention Service) show that there were 89,000 victims of identity theft in the UK in 2010 and 85,000 victims in 2009.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cifas.org.uk/identity_fraud |title=CIFAS: your identity  }}, CIFAS</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://id-theft-uk.blogspot.com/2010/02/uk-fraud-prevention-agency-say-id-theft.html |title=UK Fraud Prevention Agency Say ID Theft Increase of 32% in 2009 |access-date=2010-02-03 |archive-date=2012-07-01 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120701/http://id-theft-uk.blogspot.com/2010/02/uk-fraud-prevention-agency-say-id-theft.html |url-status=dead }}, Identity Theft UK Blog, 3 February 2010</ref>{{Unreliable source?|date=December 2015}} Men in their 30s and 40s are the most common victims.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://blog.protectmyid.co.uk/index.php/the-most-likely-victims-of-identity-fraud-men-in-their-late-30s-and-early-40s/ |title=The most likely victims of identity fraud: men in their late 30s and early 40s |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120708/http://blog.protectmyid.co.uk/index.php/the-most-likely-victims-of-identity-fraud-men-in-their-late-30s-and-early-40s/ |archive-date=8 July 2012 }}, Protect MY ID Blog, 21 January 2011</ref>{{Unreliable source?|date=December 2015}} Identity fraud now accounts for nearly half of all frauds recorded.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cifas.org.uk/press_release_twentyeleven_c |title=Fraudscape: report reveals the UK's fraud landscape in 2010  }}, CIFAS</ref>