[Wikipedia-l] Where ends the responsibility of Wikipedia? (personal information of people)

[Fred Bauder]

It is not that your identity so far as the state or federal  
government is stolen. Identity theft refers to someone gaining  
sufficient access to your personal information that it is possible to  
access your credit card accounts and bank accounts or create new  
ones. What they are stealing is your credit rating. They can then run  
up a big bill and leave you with it; the banks and credit companies  
may forgive the debt, but straightening your credit rating will be  
difficult and time consuming, or expensive (if you hire it done).

I suspect the same thing  could happen to a Belgium citizen.

Could a person armed with your identity card open up a line of credit  
without you knowing it.? Could they get a "lost" identity card issued  
in your name to them?

Fred

On Jan 29, 2006, at 1:55 AM, Walter Vermeir wrote:

> I have seen a request form a person who has a entry on the English
> language Wikipedia to remove his date of birth because he fears  
> identity
> theft. He is a USA-citizens.
>
> At first glance that seems to me a very strange reason to request to
> remove that information. How can you steal someones identity??
>
>
>> From the day of my bright until the day that I day that I die all my
>>
> movements are tracked in the national population register of  
> Belgium. I
> have a electronic identity card, a electronic national medical  
> insurance
> card. Most databaseses of the government functions are  
> interconnected to
> exchange information about the citizens. There is not much the
> government does not know. (*) So how the hell can you steal some ones
> identify?
>
> But I understand that things are very, very different in the USA
> regarding that. That there no way to verify someone identify. That you
> can get a visa-card whit a drivers licence ID and a drivers licence  
> with
> the Visa-card as identification. And that this is also the reason that
> Americans are not enthusiastic to give you there bank account number
> because there is no good protection against abuse.
>
> So when you look at it that way I would be scared also for identify
> theft if I where living in the USA.
>
> Would it not be reasonable to consider the local circumstances when
> putting information in the articles?
>
> Greetings,
> Walter
>
> -- 
> Contact: walter AT wikizine DOT org
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