The DVS (Document Verification Service) has reported that 1.7 million Australian’s personal information is stolen or misused every year, making identity crime one of the most prevalent types of personal crime in the country.
With recent concerns raised by the general public about the security of ABS Census data, online security and data protection has become a topic of widespread interest for the Australian population.
Identity crime is a critical threat to the Australian community. Such crime generates significant revenue for offenders and can cause large financial losses to the Australian Government, businesses and individuals.
There were an estimated 126,300 persons in Australia who were victims of identity theft in 2014 to 2015, this equates to 0.7% of the population aged 15 and over. Individuals aged 25 to 34 were most likely to experience identity theft (33,700 people year) whilst those aged 55 years and over were the least likely (25,900 people year).
Over a quarter of the individuals (90,100) had their personal details stolen over the internet, mainly via social media or email channels. There was also the remaining quarter of individuals that were not even aware that their personal details were stolen.
Bright People Technologies have been developing secure software for the online world since 1998 and have been trusted with the data of over 500,000 people during this time. At Bright, we recommend a few simple principles that go a long way to protecting your information online:
- Checking you are on an official website URL before logging on to any website
- Changing passwords regularly and using different passwords
- Installing internet security
- Only submitting payment if there is a secure https:// connection
Ensuring Security for the National Police History Check and 100 Point Identity Checks
There are now a wide range of useful services and applications you can complete online, saving you time and money. In the past in order to obtain a National Police History Check you would need to personally visit an Australian Post Office, visit a police office or have all of your documents verified in person. More recently, some companies have offered the ability to conduct your application online, only for customers to discover that in order to complete their 100-point Identity Check they still needed to find someone to personally certify their documents to complete the process. Cited removes the need for any face-to-face interaction, signing, printing or positing forms via a truly 100% online process.
Organisations across a wide range of industries, government bodies and not-for-profits require their workers to provide an up-to-date National Police History Check as part of their recruitment process or regularly throughout their term on employment. Completing a National Police History check coupled with an independent employment background check for potential employees helps reduce the chance of fraudulent behaviour and provide businesses with the peace of mind that all their staff are the trustworthy and qualified people they expected.
With the recent launch of Cited people are now able to feel secure from the convenience of completing their 100-point Identity Check online, making the Police History Check a 100% secure online process.
Safety of Online Submission
It is important to be fully aware of the ongoing rise in online identity theft. This means being vigilant in your choice of companies when conducting this process and understanding their security standards and policies relating to Information Security and personal data protection. Choosing companies with a proven history in software development, e-commerce, information security and a local support team are standard hygiene factors that can ease your concern and lower your risk.
It’s important that for every stage of the application and payment process, procedures are in place to protect your sensitive information from unauthorised access. Other industry standards need to be adhered to, such as ensuring the industry standard SSL protection is mentioned on the site and a secure process for the storage of your personal information. It’s worth checking the Information Security Policy of the company and ensure the physical, technical and administrative safeguards are in place to protect your data privacy. End to end data encryption for any data in transit using 256-bit SSL security will ensure no one can read the information you provide to us. If a company doesn’t publicise their Information Security or Data protection policy, then you can always request it.
Ensure the platform you chose has the necessary ‘trust’ factor that gives you the comfort you need to know your personal details are safe.
ACIC (Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission), formally known as The National Police Checking Service (NPCS) run by CrimTrac conducted over 3.95 million police checks in 2014/15 (equating to more than 10,000 checks per day). ACIC is the federal government’s central source for criminal history information across Australia and cover all police jurisdictions.
Bright People Technologies is an accredited organisation of the ACIC National Police Checking Service, allowing it to provide a fully secure gateway service to the national criminal history database via their Cited online compliance platform. Cited has been implemented with all of the necessary and key security factors mentioned above and follows the highest level of security standards and industry best practice. When it comes to providing your personal details for the Cited online police check service, you can feel confident your personal information is in safe hands and secure.
Conclusion
Identity theft is a genuine issue when it comes to submitting information online, particularly when it comes to sensitive data that is traditionally provided through physical channels. This is why it’s important to choose your supplier wisely. With industry standard security precautions in place on the Cited website and the integrity of data generated through the ACIC, you can be rest assured that your personal information is safe and secure.
At Bright, the company behind Cited we have been offering workforce verification services and online compliance solutions to the world’s leading companies since 1998. We stake our reputation on the security of your information and protecting your data is one of the biggest priorities of our business.
Whenever you are submitting information or making payments online, stay alert and keep your data safe. If you require Cited’s Police Check service www.cited.com.au, you can trust us to help you secure it both easily and safely.