Identity theft and namesakes online: how to protect yourself

At the start of 2015, for many people sharing the same name as one of the three terrorists who struck in France, Amedy Coulibaly and the brothers Saïd and Chérif Kouachi, daily life turned into a nightmare. Ever since the names of the attackers behind the Paris assaults on Charlie Hebdo and the kosher supermarket were made public, some namesakes have been the constant target of insults, threats and phone harassment. In this way, current events brought the problems tied to namesakes back into the spotlight, in one of their cruelest forms.

But these problems are only a small part of those faced by victims of identity theft. Every year in France, more than 300,000 people have their identity used without their consent. A phenomenon greatly amplified by the web. Identity theft and namesakes online are thus dangers in constant flux.

Identity theft and namesakes online: celebrities, a prime target

When it comes to celebrities, who are used to being mentioned and criticized, the theft of their identity often becomes a problem when it goes beyond simple parody. Their image can be damaged as soon as the public attributes to them statements they never made. Michel Sardou was the latest victim of a phenomenon that has become widespread and is made easy by the internet(1). He even filed a complaint for digital identity theft in an attempt to trace the source of a xenophobic letter addressed to François Hollande and circulated in his name.

Social networks are often behind spectacular cases of celebrity identity theft, since celebrities are frequently prime targets. In 2013, Gérard Lanvin was also credited with a letter addressed to the President of the Republic circulating on the web, which led him to take legal action to identify those responsible(2). For his part, Philippe Risoli, the former host of Juste Prix, secured the shutdown of fake Twitter and Facebook accounts on which his image and name were being misused with dubious humor.

Identity theft and namesakes online: hackers pave the way for identity theft

Often, when there is identity theft, the perpetrators of this offense seek to gain access to personal information. So, at the end of November, Sony Pictures fell victim to a devastating cyberattack(3). Hackers paralyzed its computer systems and stole sensitive data, including unreleased films and private electronic conversations. They also made public information about the private lives and emails of the company’s employees, which was a windfall for cybercriminals who knew how to take advantage of such personal data. All they had to do was collect the addresses, passport numbers, social security numbers or full credit card details that would allow them, for example, to take out a loan in the name of the person whose personal data had been leaked(4).

Sony’s message to its employees

These events pushed Sony Pictures to create an emergency plan in which, at first, employees were required to reduce their internet use to a minimum, banning emails and instant messaging from their internal communication. Identity protection services were also offered to them, mainly so they could protect themselves and be prepared for the consequences of a possible theft of their identity. Finally, to round out their defense, and on their own initiative, many employees did not hesitate to rush to platforms like the one offered by Lifelock Inc. (an American company listed on the NYSE with revenue of 369 million dollars), an identity theft protection system that is especially popular in the United States. These Sony Pictures employees were forced to educate themselves at high speed about the issue of identity theft, finding themselves in an uncertain situation where the likelihood of falling victim to it was far higher than for the average internet user.

How can you reduce the risks of identity theft?

But for anyone using the internet, for professional or personal purposes, and in order to best prevent the risks and consequences of identity theft, you have to be fully aware that online, personal data, purchases, relationships, comments and posts, and so on, all of these elements are also, in a way, part of you; they define us digitally.

To properly tackle the problems of attributing and controlling a digital identity, you have to distinguish between two levels of harm that call for different responses:

1. To avoid identity theft, it is essential to follow personal security rules. Systems like the ones offered by Lifelock make it easier to comply with the measures needed to protect your identity, in particular to monitor the status of your bank accounts or any fraudulent use of your names, mailing addresses, and other sensitive data that could end up on the online black market. Such platforms take it upon themselves to detect any abnormal use of your personal data on the internet and in public databases in order to alert you quickly so that you can counter the negative effects as soon as possible.

Lifelock offers an identity protection system

2. To protect yourself from a harmful namesake, the approach is noticeably different from the one used against identity theft. In short, you have to stand out, be proactive and reclaim the space occupied by the other person(5). For example, you will try to highlight your differences, however small they may be (photos, degrees, professional activity, geographic information, etc.), while also being present on as many social networks as possible, in order to increase the chances that your profile appears well ranked in the results of the main search engines.

The main challenges of protecting your identity therefore lie upstream, at the prevention stage, because once the damage is done, victims have few alternatives. Of course, they can first turn to the law and its enforcement. Thus the brand-new offense of digital identity theft led to a first ruling in favor of Rachida Dati in December 2014, against the creator of a fake “official site” of the MP and mayor(6). The two defendants had taken advantage of a security flaw on the official site of the member of the European Parliament to create a site that allowed internet users to issue fake press releases “free of charge, courtesy of Rachida Dati” by inserting the text of their choice.

However, to reach that point and for the complaint to be considered by the courts, you have to be able to provide evidence that traces back to the author of the offense.

Identity theft and namesakes online: removing search results about you

Before turning to the courts, it is possible to request the removal of search results about you. This right was strengthened thanks to the support given to the right to digital oblivion and to the delisting of Google search results by the Court of Justice of the European Union in May 2014. However, Google has a certain margin of interpretation and, for France, only 51% of the URLs submitted were delisted(7). Here again, the courts will define the limits of this new right as cases arise. Google is free to rule on each request submitted to it, but in January 2015, the search engine was convicted by the courts for failing to enforce the right to be forgotten of an internet user for whom a reference to a past conviction for fraud was harmful(8). This decision will allow the Californian giant to keep refining its judgment as to how such requests should be handled.

In conclusion, to preserve the integrity of their digital identity, everyone must choose to take on a great deal of personal responsibility. While it is essential to be supported by experts to restore their identities or deal with the harm suffered as a result of identity theft, victims must above all arm themselves with courage, since they will sometimes have to prove that they really are who they say they are, and restoring their image and reclaiming their identity can take time.

Sources:

(1)https://www.lefigaro.fr/musique/2015/01/07/03006-20150107ARTFIG00093-fausse-lettre-xenophobe-michel-sardou-porte-plainte.php

(2) http://www.nextinpact.com/news/78503-l-acteur-gerard-lanvin-porte-plainte-pour-usurpation-d-identite-sur-internet.htm

(3) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sony\_Pictures\_Entertainment\_hack

(4) http://www.forbes.com/sites/thomasbrewster/2014/12/05/passport-numbers-credit-card-details-and-47000-ssns-sony-data/

(5) http://www.cadremploi.fr/editorial/actualites/edito/detail/article/au-secours-mon-homonyme-est-gogo-dancer.html

(6) https://www.village-justice.com/articles/Delit-usurpation-identite,18790.html

(7) https://www.journaldugeek.com/2014/10/13/google-droit-a-loubli-la-france-premiere/

(8) https://www.journaldugeek.com/2015/01/16/france-1ere-condamnation-google-non-respect-droit-a-loubli/