Share your thoughts on identity related topics - chance to win £250! NOW CLOSED

[AnnMumsnet]

The internet has provided us with many wonderful opportunities. We can discover and learn, meet potential partners, we can buy and sell things to other people, turn to peers for advice, book holidays, read our favourite magazines, manage our finances, and so on. Unfortunately the systems and tools we use to make our lives easier are easily misused by people with the wrong intentions. We read headlines of dating scams, online fraud, people creating fake profiles, and children accessing age restricted content.

We can use our phones to make payments from our bank accounts, but not prove who we are. We still have to photocopy and email our passports to prove our identities to get things done like rent a flat, which simply doesn’t make sense. The list goes on and on…

Mumsnet partner, Yoti, have created a secure ID app which helps people prove their identity, online and in person - and are on a mission to fix the identity related issues that aren't right and don’t make sense. If you’d like to read more about how they secure your data and plan to make proving your identity simpler, faster and safer, please visit www.yoti.com.

Yoti would like to hear your views on some identity related topics - have a look at them below - and if your answer is defined by aspects such as past experience, the age of your children or your work then please add that into your post. Of course, there's no right or wrong answers and all views are welcome.

Example Topics:

• Age restricted content is open to anyone online (for example anyone - whatever their age can access all sorts of content with no restrictions)
• Online personas can't be trusted (for example - it's easy to pose as someone older or younger when interacting with other people online)
• Cost of fraud is more than the NHS budget (£144bn more money is lost each year to online fraud in the UK than spent on the NHS)
• We need to show numerous paper documents (e.g. a utility bill and two different types of ID document) just to access a new service

Add your comment and you will be entered into a prize draw where one winner will get a £250 John Lewis voucher

thanks and good luck!
MNHQ

Standard Insight T&Cs apply

The new plain English guide from the Children's Commissioner explaining for teenagers what Facebook actually do with data about them could be a real eye opener and a help for their future internet use.

This app could be a useful Age proving ID to stop underage people from accessing age restricted sites as there is no way to police that at the moment.

I just don't think a full conversion over to technology is a great idea, too much can go wrong and I'm sure it will have plenty of downfalls

Identity fraud scares me, theres too much information online

im one of those people that just does not give my bank details out only to insurance for car and thats done be phone l have given up paypal for the reason is they ask constanly for bank details update l do not accept that as just dodgy to keep repeating bank details online
l still do not bank online as with all my luck it would be my account thats been robbed of all moneys l just cant take that chance hence no banking online is this just me or is there more like me

I think age restrictions should be in place a lot more. Software on family computers that stop younger members of the family being able to access a variety of websites you wouldn't be happy with!

A few years ago someone phoned my mobile provider and used my password and was able to request a smartphone to be delivered to an address the opposite end of he country to where I live. They said I had given them my permission to call!! They had hacked into my account.

I didn't know until my phone was cut off at a very upsetting time for me when my step-father was in hospital and nearly died.

I was so upset. I had repeatedly told my phone company I don't have or want a smartphone so that in itself should have been a warning but that fact that it wasn't even me that phoned didn't stop them letting a complete stranger alter my account.

I don't use social media at all as I believe that is another way for fraudsters to find out details abuut you.

The problem is that the internet is becoming our 'new reality' yet there is little control over how it is used. I think secure ID could help to address some of the issues that arise as a result of mass 'anonymous' interactions etc on the internet. Really, we should all have a 'verified' ID to allow access to the internet although that does flag up many privacy issues also. My son has watched the CEOP KS1 film with Lee and Kim on YouTube which tackles some of the issues surrounding internet safety for youngsters and I would thoroughly recommend that to other parents.

Well my biggest concern is fraud. Every day common sense can protect you from the rest.

As a potential user of this service - who is liable if Yoti checks fail to spot identity fraud. What is someone registers as me - who is responsible for any losses I incur through their negligence? And as a corporate user - I am potentially liable to fines if I do not conduct KYC checks properly. Will Yoti recompense me for any losses due to their negligence?

I worry especially for elderly less tech-savvy people. So many services are necessarily accessed online, and this leaves those who may understand little about computers, and may also be too trusting, vulnerable to criminals looking for an easy target to defraud.

My brother used to work for CEOP (Child Exploitation and OnlineProtection), working to prosecute paedophiles, online groomers and the like. Our son is therefore very aware, and has been from a young age, that all is not always what it seems on the Internet. We started by telling him that some people aren't who they say they are online (How do you know Lisa is 7? You can't see her) and as he has got older, we have increased his knowledge and awareness. We also receive online reports of what our son has used the Internet for, and it tells us what websites he has viewed, as well as trying tovisitany sites that are blocked. We like to think we are quite a savvy family, and we have never had any online issues, whether it be grooming, identity theft or inappropriate content.

My pet hate is when you get a company you deal with phoning you up and despite them phoning your home telephone and asking to speak to you, you still have to jump through hoops to prove who you are! Most annoying.

FeeFeeG - wouldn't you worry that someone could answer your phone and pretend to be you?

When I was younger, I had no issue finding age restricted content online and that was before it was as easy as it is now. It's even easier to stumble across 18+ content now. I don't let my daughter browse the internet without parental content filters and settings enabled.

Children need lots of advice and support with the Internet. But sadly we are all susceptible to fraudsters so I am very careful who I give my details to

I dont use apps for these

Safety of personal data should be paramount to all.

The simple fact is even the most simple scams can rake in thousands of pounds and the details needed are little more than what the average person will add to social media accounts!

There should be a campaign to educate - young and old in how to make

People can pretend to be anyone they want online. There's no accountability and companies like google protect people. I worry for my kids when they're older.

It's the way you are forced into interacting online these days that drives me mad. Trying to get through to anyone on a phone line (never mind a physical presence like a bank) is being eroded every day so you have no choice but to go online and open yourself up to fraud. It's one thing to tweak your identity on a forum to make yourself less identifiable, but you just can't do that with services like banking. Then, if it unfortunately happens, in a lot of cases, it is treated as just tough luck with little being done to trace the culprits.

I think a lot of people trust everything they read and see online and this is when they fall prey to different risks.
Someone has already said about more security awareness being needed rather than apps being available and I really agree with this especially when it comes to social media.
Facebook especially is a minefield in trying to set security and should be made so much easier so people can be confident that they are only sharing things with their friends rather than opening themselves up to fraud.

I must get emails about 5 times a day that are fraudulent - pretending to be from paypal, Amazon, the tax office. It's ridiculously annoying. In the real world I'm semi cautious - I'll destroy things with my name and address on, but my dad is a full on shredding nut so I'm not that bad yet!!

The more security the better in my eyes, I most definitely feel age restricted content is a must!

I have had some experience with online personas as my cousin was caught up with someone pretending to be a teenager when he was in fact a 41 year old man talking to her online luckily we found out before things got out of hand and we contacted the police I do believe there should be more done to protect young vulnerable people from predators ,to be fair the police that deal with this sort of thing was really good but it has made me very aware with my own children and making sure I look at who there talking to and making sure I protect them from such things happening to them

I am very wary of my personal data online and any of online and telephone transactions. I am sceptical of the need for or security of an App such as this. As to having several forms of ID to identify yourself I think there cannot be enough checks in place and in this day and age it is more important. Having been a victim in my professional life of fraud it is very easy for criminals to commit fraud and steal money and identities.