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The title is straight forward - "Executive Order: Strengthening Federal Efforts to Protect Against Identity Theft By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, in order to strengthen efforts to protect against identity theft, it is hereby ordered as follows ... "

It was May 10, 2006 when President George Bush signed this executive order and created a task force to study the data and provide recommendations for the government and President to formulate some method of protecting innocent citizens and business from the nasty hand of identity theft. Months later that same task force submitted a report outlining the cause, effect and potential recovery for victims of identity theft.

According to documented findings by the task force the average citizen victimized by identity theft will spend upward of 60 man hours trying to put their life back in order and by no means is the victimization limited to those using the internet.

The elderly have been targeted via telephone scams with insidious threats that their pension will be interrupted unless they give out personal information to confirm their identity. The elderly, it appears, are more vulnerable and quite likely to supply whatever is asked in order not to jeopardize their only source of income.

Recently the Veterans Administration has notified veterans of a compromised database and several independent banks in Michigan have also experienced a similar situation. No matter how careful we are with our personal information, as happened with these banks, some instances are beyond our control.

Protecting ourselves from identity theft can be less difficult when we follow precautions as outlined in the task force recommendations. Most of us use our own common sense to avoid such a devastating occurrence but not everyone is aware of the dangers or the many hours and emotional or financial toll such an incident can incur.

From the executive order by the President to the recommendations by his task force and the resulting changes in how the government protects itself and us from identity theft, there are actually concrete answers, not just smoke and mirrors. Who do you call? Where do you start? Is there a police report to file? Do you need an attorney? Where to begin to protect yourself AND where to begin if you are a victim are covered in the task force recommendation. In this case the government is providing solid information.

Learn more about this author, Joanne Robbins.
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