CONFIDENTIALITY AND IDENTITY THEFT
According to "The Police Handbook" http://www.ou.edu/oupd/idtheft.htm,
" 27.3 million Americans have been victims of some form of identity theft within the past five years according to a September, 2003 FTC survey, including almost TEN MILLION people in 2002 alone. According to the survey, last year's identity theft losses to businesses and financial institutions totaled nearly $48 billion and consumer victims reported $5 billion in out-of-pocket expenses."
Identity theft was the second most reported crime to the federal government in 2003.
WHAT IS IDENTITY THEFT?
"Identity theft" refers to crimes in which someone wrongfully obtains and uses another person's personal data (i.e., name, date of birth, social security number, driver's license number, credit card, bank account numbers) in some way that involves fraud or deception, for financial gain such as obtaining money or goods and services or to fraudulently obtain identification cards, driver licenses, birth certificates, social security numbers, travel visas and other official government papers.
According to the Federal Trade Commission, on average, most victims don't even know their identity has been stolen until more than a year later.
SO HOW DOES ALL OF THIS IDENTITY THEFT INFORMATION RELATE TO A WEBSITE ABOUT ESTATE PLANNING??
"Well, Who Should You Trust With Your Personal Information?"
Under the law, there is absolutely no obligation of confidentiality to the client between a paralegal, life insurance agent or "financial planner" selling you a trust. As the "agent's manual" for one trust marketing company states: "The beauty of the Living Trust is that it is necessary to obtain a complete listing of the client's assets to prepare their Trust. So at the conclusion of the Trust selling process you know every single dollar that the client has and you know where it is. Then when you deliver the final documents, you can show the client how to reposition some of his assets to improve his [and the agent's] financial situation." (!) It is true that in order to prepare an effective trust, the client must disclose all of his or her assets to the preparer. You may not want to do this with someone that has the motive of selling you additional "financial services." Or worse, there is absolutely nothing preventing the "agent" from sharing information about your assets with any other persons for any purpose.
ATTORNEY/CLIENT PRIVILEGE
Why You Can Rely on an Attorney to Keep Your Personal Information Confidential?
Any communications, whether it is spoken or written, with a duly licensed Attorney at Law, and his or her staff is covered by the attorney/client privilege of confidentiality. An attorney and any employees of the attorney are prohibited by law from disclosure of any information about what you discuss in confidence. An attorney in violation of that rule faces substantial penalties including disbarment. A living trust is a confidential document. The only way to insure it remains that way is deal with someone who cannot disclose its contents or anything about your assets to anyone without your express consent.
IN CONCLUSION
In today's climate of rampant identity theft, it is not just foolish, it is reckless, to disclose any of your personal or financial information to ANYONE, unless you are quite certain that they will only be using it for the purpose that you have authorized. Just because someone says your information will be kept confidential does not necessarily mean that it will be kept confidential.
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