Egg scrambles Garlik to crack ID theft

Internet bank developers promise greater consumer protection

Will Head, vnunet.com 30 Oct 2006

The developers behind internet bank Egg have turned their attention to tackling ID fraud.

DataPatrol, a new service from identity experts Garlik, is designed to prevent ID theft and the emerging breed of ID criminals who exploit the wealth of personal information available online to manufacture identities illegally.

Garlik was founded by Egg and First Direct founding chief executive Mike Harris and former Egg chief information officer Tom Ilube.

The company aims to protect consumers online and give them more power over the way their personal information is used in the digital world.

DataPatrol uses new semantic web technology to help consumers track personal data across the internet, as well as key public records and commercial databases, including customer credit profiles.

The application returns a monthly report to customers detailing exactly what information appears, along with an intelligent assessment of how vulnerable the individual is to ID theft.

"The internet has become a rich source of personal information which is beginning to be exploited by businesses and fraudsters," said Mike Harris, chairman of Garlik.

"Our priority has been to develop a service to combat the new wave of cyber-crime which uses the internet to capture and take over people's identities."

An estimated 100,000 people are affected by identity fraud every year, costing the UK £1.6bn.

"Identity theft is a growing problem. The costs to victims are high in terms of financial losses and the emotional impact of having private assets stolen," said Ilube.

Harris and Ilube have appointed a panel of world-class experts to advise the business, including Simon Davies, director of Privacy International, Mark Opzoomer, former managing director of Yahoo Europe, and Daniel Cooper, renowned privacy lawyer with Covington & Burling.

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