Identity theft is a huge problem

Student's photo captures ID theft danger

A shadowy figure sits at his computer, just waiting for the right moment to steal someone's credit card information.
It's only a photo illustration, but the reality captured in Foran High School junior Molly Weathered's "A Waiting Thief" — the first-place photo in the state Department of Consumer Protection's 2008 Law Day photo contest — is all too real.
Weathered, 16, said she got the idea from her photography teacher, William Domeracki, to superimpose a black-and-white print negative of her boyfriend at his computer over a digital color photo of a credit card.
She wanted to demonstrate identity theft, which often takes place by computer. "I thought Molly hit it right on the head," said department Commissioner Jerry Farrell Jr. Identity theft "is a growing issue every single year," he said, "despite the fact that there are lots of things that are being done about it."
Both Weathered and second place-winner Leah Pryor, a junior at Amity High School in Woodbridge, submitted identity theft-related photographs, according to the department.
"Anything that we can do to educate and support consumers in protecting their personal information has to be a priority," Farrell said. "Identity theft affects about 2,000 people in Connecticut every year, and the cost for repairing one's good name can be significant in terms of time and trouble, not to mention the out-of-pocket expense."
Farrell said stolen identity, depending on the circumstances, can take up to 36 hours to put right.
Weathered was recognized May 3 at the Westfield Connecticut Post mall, in conjunction with a department-sponsored free paper-shredding event. An aspiring photographer, Weathered said she was "shocked" and excited to learn she'd won.
"Anything to, like, get me started on the right foot with photography," she said.
Farrell said 2008 marked the department's second annual Law Day contest — last year it was an essay — and contestants were to convey the importance of consumer issues and what the department does to protect consumers.
Law Day was founded 50 years ago as a time to recognize the benefits of the nation's legal system and celebrate the heritage of liberty, justice and equality under law, according to the American Bar Association.

Full story by NOELLE FRAMPTON at ConnPost

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It's the Digital Age. Do You Know Where Your Photos Are?

Rebekka Guðleifsdóttir recently found out that some of her photographs were earning money for another person. According to CNet news, several of her images had been copied from Flikr and uploaded to iStockphoto without her permission. Once Getty Images (who owns iStockphoto) was informed they removed the stolen images and are working with Ms. Guðleifsdóttir to make appropriate remedies.

Theft of digital images has reached epic proportions across the globe. Between random individuals stealing images for personal use, others reselling images (like Ms. Guðleifsdóttir was a victim of), and companies using images they haven't paid for, its hard for a photographer to not loose money. It has even reached the point where "news" agencies run by photographers have snatched images for their pages to illustrate stories under the guise of "sending traffic to the originating site."

What makes this theft so rampant is the difficulty photographers have in tracking their work. Often the photographer doesn't know his/her work has been stolen. There are a few new services, like PicScout ImageTracker that will search the web on behalf of photographers but most photographers still rely on many hours of manual image searches through popular search engines.

For now, the best solution seems to be prevention. Photographers should always watermark their images and upload low resolution/small size images to lessen their attractiveness to thieves. Images under 800 pixels on the long side at 72pixels per inch is the current preferred maximum image size of many photographers seeking to prevent image theft.

Have you ever been a victim of image theft?

Credits: Liz Masoner,
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