by Rob Douglas

The Identity Theft Task Force created by President Bush in May of 2006 and co-chaired by Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey and Federal Trade Commission Chairman William E. Kovacic, released a progress report this week. 

Presidential Identity Theft Task Force

According to a press release from the Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice, the task force, consisting of 17 federal agencies and departments, has been following an April, 2007 strategic plan that “outlined 31 recommendations the federal government should undertake to help prevent the theft and misuse of consumers’ personal information, help consumers detect and recover from identity theft, and increase the prosecution and punishment of identity thieves.”

The Identity Theft Task Force Report updates efforts taken by the agencies including “expansion of the Task Force’s data security and identity theft business and consumer education campaigns; exploring means of improving consumer authentication processes to prevent the use of stolen information to commit identity theft; launching new initiatives to help identity theft victims recover; and improving law enforcement tools to investigate and prosecute identity thieves.”

Concluding on a sober note, the release states: “due to the dynamic and rapidly changing nature of identity theft, the struggle to protect consumers’ personal information will not end with the implementation of the recommendations from the Strategic Plan.”

For the press release see: President’s Identity Theft Task Force Issues Report on Steps Taken to Implement Strategic Plan and for a pdf of the full report see: The President’s Identity Theft Task Force Report.