The Blood Motif Of Macbeth By William Shakespeare - 786 Words

Macbeth Essay William Shakespeare dramatic play has many suitable examples of imagery, mainly the imagery of blood. The imagery of blood is very important in this play because it symbolizes guilt. Macbeth got too greedy and wanted more power, which led him to murder innocent people in order for him to keep his throne. In The Tragedy of Macbeth, William Shakespeare utilizes the blood motif to demonstrate the continuous feelings of guilt felt by Macbeth and Lady Macbeth and to distinguish the changes in the characters. The purpose of blood is to represent guilt. Shakespeare uses blood as a way to convey guilt and murder. The following quotes are examples of blood imagery representing the guilt Macbeth and Lady Macbeth feels after killing blameless people. Shakespeare demonstrates the strong imagery of blood in Act 2 scene 2, â€Å"What hands are here! Ha! They pluck out mine eyes. Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood Clean from my hand? No, this my hand will rather The multitudinou s seas incarnadine, Making the green one red† (I.II.56-60). In this scene, the imagery of blood shows Macbeth’s lack of ability of removing the blood from his hands. The change of the ocean color from green to red shows the guilt inside of Macbeth after murdering King Duncan. He thinks that no amount of water can rinse his hands. In the following quote, Macbeth is force to hide his feelings and thoughts of guilt to stop suspicions between other characters, â€Å"And with thy bloody and invisibleShow MoreRelatedThe Ultimate Downfall of Macbeth Due to Guilt 842 Words   |  3 PagesIn the play Macbeth by William Shakespeare, Macbeth’s ultimate downfall is due to the guilt he feels over everything he has done. The motif of supernatural forces, specifically the hallucinations and lack of sleep that Macbeth experiences, project the force of the guilt that eventually causes Macbeth’s destruction. Shakespeare uses the motif of supernatural forces to express h ow the force of the guilt Macbeth feels eventually leads to his final demolition in the play Macbeth. The recurring supernaturalRead MoreEssay on The Motifs of Blood and Water in in Shakespeares Macbeth1455 Words   |  6 PagesThe Motifs of Blood and Water in Macbeth      Ã‚  Ã‚     In his masterpiece Macbeth, William Shakespeare employs many motifs, but none more often than blood and water. The play includes many images of blood and water to show the characters attitudes toward their own development of guilt. Both motifs mature and change in their meaning along with the setting and mood of the play. â€Å"Without an understanding of the blood and water symbolism, the play cannot be completely understood†(Scott 14). Blood symbolizesRead MoreThe Theme Of Guilt In Macbeth1871 Words   |  8 Pagesrobbing or even murdering a person. In the play Macbeth, written by William Shakespeare, the main character Macbeth is driven to insanity because of all the guilt that he holds. Macbeth is not the only character in the play who goes insane because of guilt that they carry. In fact there are so many characters who have guilt that it is a main theme in the play. Shakespeare uses many different strategies to portray this theme like imagery, symbolis m, motifs, and irony. Although some may argue that symbolismRead MoreMacbeth2168 Words   |  9 Pagescome to light. Sleep reoccurs as a common motif throughout English literature for many centuries. Even the most influential writer in all of English literature, William Shakespeare, explores the element of sleep in Macbeth, one of the darkest and most powerful tragedies written in the early 1600’s. In the play, Shakespeare tells the journey of Macbeth and Banquo’s encounter with the Three Witches who predict their futures. The Three Witches prophesy that Macbeth will someday claim his title as King ofRead MoreMacbeth Major Work Notes1241 Words   |  5 PagesMacbeth Major Works Notes 1. Title: The Tragedy of Macbeth, Author: William Shakespeare, Nationality: English, Date of original publication: 1623, no translator (â€Å"SparkNotes†) 2. Setting: Macbeth took place during the eleventh century (The Middle Ages) (â€Å"SparkNotes†), briefly in England, but mainly in Scotland. The social environment valued friendship among free, white,, and relatively equal men. There was a significant amount of religious conflict, women were held as inferior to men, and the monarchRead MoreBlood in Macbeth1411 Words   |  6 PagesBlood in Macbeth William Shakespeare wove many motifs like blood into his play Macbeth, written in 1606. These motifs serve to reveal many different aspects of the plot, characters, and themes. The Blood motif is often used throughout the play to symbolize guilt, or the lack of it. The two main characters, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are driven by ambition to commit evil actions including murder. Lady Macbeth plots to have her husband murder king Duncan of Scotland, so that Macbeth can take the throneRead MoreTheme Of Birds In Macbeth784 Words   |  4 PagesIn William Shakespeare’s Macbeth, Shakespeare often uses a motif of birds in order to foreshadow future events and relationships. Shakespeare achieves this by likening two influential characters, Macbeth and Macduff, to an owl and a crow, respectively, as well as using references to other types of birds in order to set a tone. The first major mention of birds occurs when Duncan and his entourage arrive at Dunsinane, about which Banquo remarks that â€Å"The temple-haunting martlet†¦ Hath made his pendantRead MoreMacbeth Is A Tragic Hero, Who Was Overly Ambitious And980 Words   |  4 PagesMacbeth is a tragic hero, who was overly ambitious and self righteous. Throughout the story, Macbeth’s character constantly changes, but one thing that stays consistent through all of this was one word: blood. Macbeth is blood thirsty and will do anything to achieve his goal. Unfortunately, it just so happened that it involves a lot of blood to achieve it. William Shakespeare portrays Macbeth as someone willing to kill for what he wants, blood soaks almost every line of the play because of Macbeth’sRead MoreRole of Ambition in Macbeth Essay1098 Words   |  5 PagesThe play Macbeth written by William Shakespeare is based upon old Scotland and this is used as the general time frame. During this time , Monarchy still existed and Scotland is in war with Whales. There are many emotions that arise throughout the play, but the most important of all is ambition. â€Å"Ambition is the desire for personal achievement. Ambitious persons seek to be the best at what they choose to do for attainment, power, or superiority† (â€Å"Ambition†). The motif of ambition in the play is thatRead MoreMacbeth Motif Critical Analysis : Macbeth1383 Words   |  6 PagesMichael Efstration Mrs. Beauchamp H English 12 6 January 2015 Macbeth Motif Critical Analysis: Sleeplessness Macbeth is a play about a man and his desires that get the best of him. The calamity is fashioned through the inspiration of several characters including his wife, Lady Macbeth and the exciting force the witches create that begin the underlying motif of sleeplessness. Macbeth is a good person at heart, but through various temptations becomes obsessed and gets destroyed by the very thing

The Mystery Of Economic Growth - 1900 Words

Introduction â€Å"In 2010, the prestigious Nemmers Prize in Economics, awarded biennially to recognize work of lasting significance, was given to Helpman for fundamental contributions to the understanding of modern international economics and the effects of political institutions on trade policy and economic growth† (Clement, 2012). â€Å"The Mystery of Economic Growth† that was written by Elhanan Helpman provides a non-technical description of growth economics over the last half of a century. This paper will connect theory to data of four major countries United States, French, Brazil, and Japan. The principle that emerges from â€Å"The Mystery of Economic Growth† is that long term growth comes from innovation and adoption of technology in an economy. Four outlooks that Elhanan Helpman has on economic growth that are relevant in his book are able to help readers connect theory to countries and see why economies behave the way they do. First, Innovati on of technology with new techniques of production helps globalization. Second, the gain of human capital for the explanation of growth rates in different counties. Third, Total Factor Productivity of technology and knowledge leads to greater prosperity and economic growth in a country. Fourth, economic intuitions play a role in economic growth by implementing policies. The next paragraphs will relate these outlooks from Helpman and compare them to the economies of the United States, French, Brazil, and Japan. InnovationShow MoreRelatedThe Mystery Of Economic Growth1812 Words   |  8 PagesIntroduction: Economists have always been asked why and how economic growth exists in a world filled with so much disparity between the richest and the poorest. First we need to define economic growth as that which is measured by change in real income per capita(Parker, 2015). Arguably Adam Smith was one of the first economists to develop a sound theory of the classical free market in h is piece The Wealth of Nations written in 1776. Much has changed since the 1700s across the world horizons. ThingsRead MoreThe Mystery Of Capital By Hernando De Soto, And The Party : The Secret World Of China s1516 Words   |  7 PagesEconomics 160 Fall 2015 Term Paper 1 Author: S.Ali Al-Mosawi California State University Northridge INTRODUCTION In this assignment, I will be discussing the questions and mention key factors from The Mystery of Capital by Hernando De Soto, and The Party: The Secret World of China’s Communist by Rachel McGregor. Economy is the study of social behavior as discussed in class, but with these two authors and books, they elucidate in a form that is highly intellectual. They both are unique in termsRead MoreIs India’s Inclusive Growth a ‘Chimera’ ? Essay646 Words   |  3 Pages â€Å"The strategy of inclusive growth pursued by the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) has helped mitigate the widening social and economic disparities brought about by rapid economic growth.† – Dr. Manmohan Singh on ‘Inclusive growth’. ‘India shining’ has been the political slogan for India since the turn of the new millennium, and rapid economic growth over the last decade enunciated the saga of India rising. However, our â€Å"tryst with destiny† has been a mysterious journey ofRead MoreEconomic Growth And Its Implementation1740 Words   |  7 PagesEconomics 160 Fall 2015 Term Paper 1 Author: Andrew Tannous California State University Northridge INTRODUCTION According to capitalist ideals, free markets combined with a limited government will result in growth, freedom, and a prosperous economy. The Mystery of Capital outlines the importance of capitalism in economic prosperity, but Hernando DeSoto explains that capitalism alone is not enough, we also need to look at something else that allowed the West to prosper under capitalism. Richard McGregorRead MoreScurvy: How Can Science Help Prevent Dietary Deficiency Diseases?1347 Words   |  6 Pagestreatments the received. (Scurvy- The Mystery Disease) Group Number | Treatment | 1 | 2 pints of cider each day. | 2 | A daily gargle of 25 drops of sulphuric acid in water. | 3 | 2 teaspoonfuls of vinegar three times daily. | 4 | Half a pint of seawater each day. | 5 | 2 oranges and a lemon every day. | 6 | A mixture of nutmeg, garlic, mustard, radish root and myrrh as well as barley water acidified with tamarinds. | Table [ 1 ] [ (Scurvy- The Mystery Disease) ] The sailors followedRead MoreWilliam Churchill s Quote On Russia Putin1208 Words   |  5 PagesTo modify Winston Churchill’s quote on Russia Putin â€Å"†¦is a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma.† We can unwrap this mystery by analyzing Putin’s foreign policy through the eyes Morgenthau which will be the basis of this paper. By understanding the mystery we can say that Putin is following a Realist perspective and not the liberalist perspective especially with the Crimean Conflict. Before we begin in analyzing Putin’s Russia we must outline a few of the essential factors of the realistRead MoreThe Mysterious Death Of Mary Rogers And The Market Revolution1330 Words   |  6 PagesThe Mysterious Death of Mary Rogers and the Market Revolution â€Å"The Mysterious Death of Mary Rogers,† written by Amy Gilman Srebnick is about the unsolved mystery of Mary Rogers. Mary Rogers worked at a broadway tobacco shop. She was called â€Å"cigar girl.† In the 1840’s it was very shameful for a young lady like Mary Roger to work at a cigar shop because but in a way she made the shop well known. She also managed her mother s boarding house at 126 Nassau Street. Mary was the youngest child. She wasRead MoreThe Rise of the Early Churh896 Words   |  4 PagesThe Rise of the Early Church Assessment There are three mysteries in this world that remained unsolved. One, what happened in the rise of the early church, two what came first the chicken or the egg, and, three where did the peanut butter and jelly sandwich come from. But no need to worry, for two of these mysteries will be solved. If the chicken and the egg battle is ever resolved, it will be well known. As for the other two, they will be answered soon. There was once a very lonely sandwich namedRead MoreAid is not the Way to Development1427 Words   |  6 Pages Trade, not aid, is the key to economic growth in developing countries. To what extent do you agree with this statement? Introduction Most of the developing countries are mired deeply in economical obstacles, which prevent them from development significantly. In order to overcome those embarrassments world’s society struggles to find the efficient solution for poor countries’ economies. Historically, developed countries undertook policy of giving aid to their coloniesRead MoreJacques Elluls Article on Techniques Integrates Machines with Society638 Words   |  3 Pagesnotions and the four primary elements: but it had to wait for the solutions – which science provided.† Pg (7), â€Å"When the technical means do not exist, science does not advance.†Pg (8) The author has divided technique into 3 major fields’ basically; economic technique – related to production, technique of organization – it applied not only to commercial and industrial but also to warfare, legal fields and human technique – man himself became the major object of technique. Technical activity is the most

David Ricardos The Principle Of Political Economy And...

One of the founders of modern economics was David Ricardo who developed the concept of the comparative advantage of trade. This concept is a part of the classical theory of trade and was published in 1817 in David Ricardo’s book entitled the Principles of Political Economy and Taxation (Appleyard Field, 2014, p. 30). This paper will address the effectiveness of this concept as it has been applied to real-world international trade after the General Agreement in Trade and Tariffs (GATT) was signed in 1947. How the level of wages, productivity and exchange rates affect the model of comparative advantage and international trade patterns will also be analyzed in this document. Ricardian Comparative Advantage of Trade Theory David Ricardo developed this concept after he read the work of Adam Smith who is considered another founder of modern economics. Adam Smith created the concept of absolute advantage which is an idea that a countries should specialize in one commodity. They should export those commodities and should trade with a partner country, which have a specialization in other commodities. The foundation of Adam Smith’s theory is based on the labor hours of a country to produce goods. The labor theory of value reviews how many hours it takes a country to produce a particular commodity and determines which commodity the country has the most productivity benefit. The item that has the lowest cost to produce should be the item that they specialize in making andShow MoreRelatedDavid Ricardo : Comparative Advantage1397 Words   |  6 PagesDavid Ricardo; Comparative Advantage David Ricardo, a British political economist was born on April 18, 1772 in London, England. He was the third child of seventeen in a Sephardic Jewish family who originated from Portugal and had recently emigrated from the Dutch Republic. At the age of fourteen, Ricardo began to work with his father, Abraham Ricardo, who was a famous stockbroker. When Ricardo was twenty-one years of age, he ran off and got married with Priscilla Anne Wilkinson, a Quaker, and becameRead MoreCapitalism And The Communist Manifesto1731 Words   |  7 Pagesclass discussions, I’m very much active in smaller group discussions. Its harder for me to speak in full class discussion, because I’m much more comfortable writing my ideas down on paper, rather than verbally articulating them. Ricardo’s Influence on Marx Slide 1 David Ricardo was born on 19 April 1772 in London. He was the son of a Dutch Jew who had made a fortune on the London Stock Exchange. When he was 14, Ricardo joined his father s business and showed an interest in the economics of theRead MoreEconomic Benefits Of Foreign Direct Investment723 Words   |  3 PagesInternational trade not only results in increased efficiency but also allows countries to participate in a global economy, encouraging the opportunity of foreign direct investment (FDI), which is the amount of money that individuals invest into foreign companies and other assets. In theory, economies can, therefore, grow more efficiently and can more easily become competitive economic participants. For the receiving government, FDI is a means by which foreign currency and expertise can enter theRead MoreThe Rise Of Classical Economics1713 Words   |  7 PagesDavid Ricardo During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, mercantilism was at the forefront of economic thought. This economic theory advocated a surplus of exports to increase the amount of money held by a nation. Mercantilism also called for a large poor population, strict government regulations and high tariffs on imported goods. These type of policies fueled anti-trade results and international conflicts, catapulting thinkers like Adam Smith, Thomas Malthus and David Ricardo onto theRead MoreEssay about David Ricardo the Comarative and Absolute Advantage1173 Words   |  5 PagesECO2023 DAVID RICARDO THE COMARATIVE AND ABSOLUTE ADVANTAGE â€Æ' David Ricardo was one of those rare people who achieved both tremendous success and lasting fame. After his family disinherited him for marrying outside his Jewish faith, Ricardo made a fortune as a stockbroker and loan broker. When he died, his estate was worth more than $100 million in today’s dollars. At age twenty-seven, after reading Adam Smith’s The Wealth of Nations, Ricardo got excited about economics. He wrote his firstRead MoreAbsolute Advantage By Adam Smith Essay1507 Words   |  7 Pages2014). In 1817, David Ricardo published his concept that become known as the theory of comparative advantage in his book On the Principles of Political Economy and Taxation (International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences, 2007). Like Adam Smith, Ricardo was an advocate of free trade and an opponent of protectionism. However, Ricardo thought that some of Smith’s analysis needed to be improved. Due to dissatisfaction with this looseness in Smith’s theory, Ric ardo developed a principle to show thatRead MoreComparison Of Nurkse s Argument Versus Protectionism Essay1032 Words   |  5 Pagesargument versus protectionism Nurkse argued that less developed countries must make large investments in the agriculture and manufacturing economy, so that an economy can grow without risking the deterioration of its terms of trade. He believed that if a country were to become more productive, its market size would expand and it would eventually become a developed economy. With the development of the manufacturing sector, consumption of manufactured goods would increase, resulting in a decrease of importedRead MoreThe Law Of The Corn Laws1338 Words   |  6 PagesSay’s Law, in his A Treatise on Political Economy. He maintains that in order to consume, one must provide supplies for another’s demand in order to earn a unit of account to consume goods, meaning a consumer must also be a producer (Say, I.XV.133). Therefore, the economy is a constant cycle of production, proving that supply creates its own demand. Because of this implication, Say’s Law can be viewed in relation to the Corn Laws as the law implies both that an economy will equilibrate without a needRead MoreThe Trade beyond Borders2297 Words   |  9 Pagesborders this is quite an important trade in most countries and contributes to a share that is significant in these countries Gross Domestic Product (GDP). This trade has been present throughout much of the historical days furthermore its economic, political as well as social importance has been on the rise in recent centuries. Advanced transportation, industrialization, globalization, multinational corporations as well as outsourcing all has major impacts on the international trade and its increaseRead MoreThe Concept of Comparative Advantage1459 Words   |  6 Pages The comparative advantage The concept of the comparative advantage was first coined in 1817 by economist David Ricardo, in his On the principles of political economy and taxation. The underlying idea of the comparative advantage theory is that the countries possess different resources and capabilities and they can produce some specific items in a more efficient manner than other countries can produce the same items, or more efficiently that the same country can produce other items. In such

Personal Security free essay sample

The Importance of Safe Guarding Personal Information Identity theft is a serious problem worldwide. This crime flourishes when thieves are given access to your personal information, allowing them to commit crimes under your name or spend your money unbeknownst to you. You may be under the impression that identity theft could never happen to you. You may be careful with whom you give your Social Security number to, or diligent about changing up your passwords for the sake of safety. However, identity thieves are getting smarter about how they access your information. The statistics revolving around identity theft are disconcerting, but with a better understanding of how these crimes continue to be committed, we can help lower the rate of identity theft and prevent ourselves from becoming another statistic. 1. Odds Against You The United States Department of Justice states that in 2010, 7% of all United States households had at least one member of the family at or over the age of 12 who has been a victim of some sort of identity theft. That means the odds are greatly against you. Identity theft sets the government, American citizens, and businesses back by billions of dollars each year. From 2005 to 2010, 64. 1% of these instances involved credit card fraud, the fastest growing type of identity theft. Over the range of this time period, credit card misuse was doubled as the determining factor in identity theft. 2. Grave Robbing According to Time Magazine, 2. 5 million dead people get their identities stolen every year. Studies conducted by ID Analytics have shown that identity thieves have been applying for credit cards under the names of the deceased, opening up clean credit lines, new cell phone services, and in a staggering 1. million cases, using Social Security numbers previously belonging to dead people. This can be devastating for family members of the deceased who have been left to manage his or her estate. More than 2,000 identities of corpses per day are assumed by these fraudsters. 3. Social Media Fraud With a 13% increase in identity fraud between 2010 and 2011, a study conducted by Javelin Strategy amp; Research showed that consumers may be putting them selves at a higher risk for identity theft as a result of their increasingly intimate social media behaviors. Sixty-eight percent of people with public social media profiles on platforms such as Facebook or Twitter shared their birthday information with 45% of them getting into specifics about the exact month, day, and year. Sixty-three percent shared where exactly they attended high school. Eighteen percent shared their phone number and 12% shared their pet’s name. Not only are all of these details typically asked when verifying an identity, but people also frequently use them in passwords. The statistics are clear — people are giving away far too much personal information on social networking sites, allowing for fraudsters to easily steal their identities. 4. Medical Identity Theft According to the findings from a study conducted by the Federal Trade Commission, 19,428 complaints regarding medical identity theft have been reported to the Consumer Sentinel Database since January 1, 1992. Prior to that, medical-related identity theft was not documented, so there may have been many more instances of it that simply went unreported. Likewise, the number of medical identity theft victims rose from 1. % in 2001 to 1. 8% in 2005. Medical identity theft can be distressing to its victims, who often incur charges for medical care they didn’t even receive after their computerized medical records are stolen. A large chunk of these victims experienced raised premiums as a result of medical identity theft, with almost half losing coverage entirely. Medical identity thef t is more of an insider crime, as it is typically done by a health care professional. It may be committed by doctors, nurses, lab technicians, and others associated with the hospital. Part of the reason that medical identity theft is made possible could be because almost half of seniors carry their Social Security card or Medicare card in their wallets, which is a risky place to keep such valuable information. 5. College Students at Risk The United States Department of Education encourages college-aged students to be particularly aware of identity theft. After they conducted a recent survey, the Department of Education found that 48% of the students that participated in the survey admitted to leaving personal information out in their dorm rooms, some of which was financial in nature. Thirty-one percent of these students were burglarized or knew someone in the building who was burglarized, which means that their personal information could have been compromised. Identity thieves look to college-aged adults because they often have good, clean credit scores, making them an ideal target. On college campuses, Social Security numbers are often used for identification purposes. For example, a student may use their social to register for classes. With such easy access to your Social Security number, an identity thief has all the information they need to commit their crime. Lastly, college students are not as attentive to their banking accounts and private information, which buys the identity thief valuable time with your funds at hand. 6. Misleading Trial Offers The Consumer Federation of America works with commercial providers of identity theft services to figure out ways to keep people safe from identity theft. According to a 2012 report it released examining ways these services could be bettered, customers most commonly complained about the service’s lack of addressing misleading trial offers. Free trials are everywhere, offering a week or months’ worth of Weight Watchers, Netflix, or Proactiv face wash. However, customers complained that the identity theft protection sites themselves were unclear as to the trial offer stipulations. The problematic part is that customers often forget to cancel these temporarily â€Å"free† subscriptions, or they don’t realize they need to cancel, and then charges begin to accrue in their accounts from a service they may not even use. Customers feel this may as well be on par with the stealing that occurs via identity theft. So, even sites that help protect against identity theft may be draining your funds via an unclear trial offer scheme. 7. Cost to Victims According to the Federal Trade Commission’s 2006 Report, while 50% of all identity fraud victims accrue little to no out-of-pocket charges for the legal fees, lost wages, and false payments brought upon them during the fraud, a small bracket of 10% of all identity theft victims incur considerable out-of-pocket expenses. This can be upwards of $1,200. This is most commonly the case when fraudsters use a false identity to open new accounts. The top percentile of these victims lost as many as $3,000, an unsettling amount to personally lose as a result of identity theft. Few things leave a person feeling more vulnerable and taken advantage of. Likewise, resolving identity theft crime isn’t easy. Ten percent of all victims spend 55 or more hours sorting out their problems, while the top 5% spend at least 130 hours. 8. Child Identity Theft Since children have perfectly clean backgrounds, no real credit score to speak of, and their parents don’t think to monitor the status of their identity, they make easy targets for identity theft. The main reasons fraudsters use child identities is to administer illegal immigration, steal, and wipe clean the credit scores of a loved one by utilizing that of a child in their place. Sadly, this can have negative effects on the child’s credit down the line, and they could have trouble securing student loans, getting a decent job, or even purchasing a cellphone. In a study conducted by Carnegie Melon’s CyLab, 10. 2% of the children reported that someone else had used their Social Security number fraudulently. The worst of these accounts was toward a 16-year-old girl who had reported fraudulent charges of $725,000 under her name. 9. Police Notification According to the Consumer Sentinel Network’s 2011 report, 57% of identity theft victims notified a police department, resulting in a police report. Six percent notified a police department, but did not have a police report filed, and 7% notified the police but were unsure as to whether a report was filed. This leaves an alarming 30% of victims who didn’t bother to notify the police at all. In order to get ahold of the problem of identity theft, victims need to be proactive about stopping thieves with police intervention. Otherwise, the crime will perpetuate, as it is easy to get away with and can strongly benefit the thief. Title: How IASO has Failed to Protect Personal Identifiable Information? When it comes to protecting private information, no one wants to feel exposed. The most precious information a person may ever possess is their personal identifiable information: a Social Security Number, address, date of birth and even a name. If this information is stolen or tampered with, it may never be restored. Personal identifiable information, or PII as it is commonly known, has been strictly protected for years by lengthy information security regulations. Information security, or IS, works to inspect, maintain, record or destroy information while guarding it against unauthorized access, use or alteration. Most often, this type of security refers to computer-based security, simply because most precious information is now recorded on these electronic systems. The question is: is your information really being protected? Unfortunately, your PII might not be under lock and key. There are several issues with IS, many of which revolve around people – the ones both protecting and sabotaging your information. Out of all the issues plaguing IS, these are the most dangerous: * Ignorance. Computer security threats most often occur when computers are hacked or infected through sites, files and other media found through the internet. Employees and individuals that are uneducated in smart internet searching and threat recognition are more likely to invite hackers, infections and identity thieves into their databases. These days, many employees receive very little training on protection against internet dangers, which can result in serious consequences. * Covering, not solving. When problems are encountered in a system, many individuals focus on finding the infection so that it can be destroyed. Other avenues include wiping the computer altogether to rid it of the virus. However, neither of these methods takes away the source of the problem; if there is a site that is causing the problem, it should be avoided; if there is something else causing the disturbance, it should be discovered, reported and destroyed. Too often the focus is on fixing the immediate problem instead of devising a permanent solution. * Personal irresponsible action. PII is often disclosed through more simple means than computer hacking; many times, information security problems come directly from people. Individuals that place important information on sites, communicate information over internet messaging, or even disclose private information in the everyday world are at higher risk of security threats. Theft of computers, hard drives and flash drives also occurs frequently in unwatchful workplaces. All of these issues make IS less effective, and should be taken into serious consideration when any government organization, company or individual is seeking to protect precious personal identifiable information. Identity Theft Victim Statistics| Approximately 15 million United States residents have their identities used fraudulently each year with financial losses totalling upwards of $50 billion. * On a case-by-case basis, that means approximately 7% of all adults have their identities misused with each instance resulting in approximately $3,500 in losses. Close to 100 million additional Americans have their personal identifying information placed at risk of identity theft each year when records maintained in government and corporate databases are lost or stolen. These alarming statistics demonstrate identity theft may be the most frequent, costly and pervasive crime in the United States. The sophistication level of professional identity thieves involved in organized crime continues to grow along with the methods they develop. From individually tailored phishing and vishing scams, to increasingly successful hacks of corporate and government databases, to elaborate networks of botnets designed to hijack millions of computers without any trace, there is an ever-increasing threat to all Americans. At the same time, basic methods of identity theft continue unabated. From stealing wallets and purses, to dumpster diving and stealing mail, to the use of pretext and social engineering to deceive customer call centers into releasing personal account information, the original methods of identity theft still work. As the methods used to perform identity theft expand, so do the types of accounts and services being stolen by identity thieves. Credit, debit, checking and saving accounts are no longer the only targets. Identity fraud has grown to include theft of cell and landline phone service; cable and satellite television service; power, water, gas and electric service; Internet payment service; medical insurance; home mortgages and rental housing; automobile, boat and other forms of financing and loans; and, government benefits. Identity thieves will also use stolen identities to obtain employment and to deceive police when arrested. Quite simply, every individual or business is vulnerable to attack when it comes to personal or corporate information, products and services. *Based on a range of information gathered from public and private resources. | | Techniques for obtaining and exploiting personal information for identity theft Identity thieves typically obtain and exploit personally identifiable information about individuals, or various credentials they use to authenticate themselves, in order to impersonate them. The statute now makes the possession of any means of identification to knowingly transfer, possess, or use without lawful authority a federal crime, alongside unlawful possession of identification documents. However, for federal jurisdiction to prosecute, the crime must include an identification document that either: (a) is purportedly issued by the United States, (b) is used or intended to defraud the United States, (c) is sent through the mail, or (d) is used in a manner that affects interstate or foreign commerce. See 18 U. S. C.  §Ã‚  1028(c). Punishment can be up to 5, 15, 20, or 30 years in federal prison, plus fines, depending on the underlying crime per 18 U. S. C.  §Ã‚  1028(b). In addition, punishments for the unlawful use of a means of identification were strengthened in  § 1028A (Aggravated Identity Theft), allowing for a consecutive sentence under specific enumerated felony violations as defined in  § 1028A(c)(1) through (11). The Act also provides the Federal Trade Commission with authority to track the number of incidents and the dollar value of losses. Their figures relate mainly to consumer financial crimes and not the broader range of all identification-based crimes. [35] If charges are brought by state or local law enforcement agencies, different penalties apply depending on the state. Six Federal agencies conducted a joint task force to increase the ability to detect identity theft. Their joint recommendation on red flag guidelines is a set of requirements on financial institutions and other entities which furnish credit data to credit reporting services to develop written plans for detecting identity theft. The FTC has determined that most medical practices are considered creditors and are subject to requirements to develop a plan to prevent and respond to patient identity theft. [36] These plans must be adopted by each organizations Board of Directors and monitored by senior executives. [37] Identity theft complaints as a percentage of all fraud complaints decreased from 2004-2006. [38] The Federal Trade Commission reported that fraud complaints in general were growing faster than ID theft complaints. [38] The indings were similar in two other FTC studies done in 2003 and 2005. In 2003, 4. 6 percent of the US population said they were a victim of ID theft. In 2005, that number had dropped to 3. 7 percent of the population. [39][40] The Commissions 2003 estimat e was that identity theft accounted for some $52. 6 billion of losses in the preceding year alone and affected more than 9. 91 million Americans;[41] the figure comprises $47. 6 billion lost by businesses and $5 billion lost by consumers. According to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), a report released in 2007 revealed that 8. 3 million American adults, or 3. 7 percent of all American adults, were victims of identity theft in 2005. 42] The latest report from the FTC showed that ID theft increased by 21% in 2008. However, credit card fraud, that crime which is most closely associated with the crime of ID theft, has been declining as a percentage of all ID theft. In 2002, 41% of all ID theft complaints involved a credit card. That percentage has dropped to 21% in 2008. [43] Two states, California[44] and Wisconsin[45] have created an Office of Privacy Protection to assist their citizens in avoiding and recovering from identity theft. In Massachusetts in 2009-2010, Governor Deval Pat rick made a commitment to balance consumer protection with the needs of small business owners. His Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation announced certain adjustments to Massachusetts identity theft regulations that maintain protections and also allows flexibility in compliance. These updated regulations went into effect on March 1, 2010. The regulations are clear that their approach to data security is a risk-based approach important to small businesses and might not handle a lot of personal information about customers. [46][47] The IRS has created the IRS Identity Protection Specialized Unit to help taxpayers who are victims of federal tax-related identity theft. Generally, the identity thief will use a stolen SSN to file a forged tax return and attempt to get a fraudulent refund early in the filing season. A taxpayer will need to fill out Form 14039, Identity Theft Affidavit.