The Significance of Mandatory Data Breach Warnings to Identity Crime

The relationship between data breaches and identity crime has been scarcely explored in current literature. However, there is an important relationship between the misuse of personal identification information and identity crime as the former is in many respects the catalyst for the latter. Data breaches are one of the ways in which this personal identification information is obtained by identity criminals, and thereby any response to data breaches is likely to impact the incidence of identity crime. Initiatives around data breach notification have become increasingly prevalent and are now seen in many State legislatures in the United States and overseas. The Australian Government is currently in the process of introducing mandatory data breach notification laws. This paper explores the introduction of mandatory data breach notification in Australia, and lessons learned from the experience in the US, particularly noting the link between data breaches and identity crime. The paper proposes that through the introduction of such laws, identity crimes are likely to be reduced. Keywords—identity crime; data breaches; mandatory breach reporting; privacy