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

I teach criminology and i recently went to a workshop on ID theft protecting Id and the one thing they said is avoid apps that store your ID.
I get scam emails every day and feel the email provider doesn't do enough to filter these. My doctor has just installed a checkin system where by your name and DOB b flashes up on a screen when you are to be called in. I ask for them to remove mine and refused to check in via a monitor.
I went to the bank yesterday and the cashier was asking in a very loud voice what is your remember-able name, what is the 3rd digit of your security number to the older customer in front I could have recorded the lot name account number and security questions there was no attempt to hide security details. I received cold calls every day where my data is consistently been sold on despite me ticking the opp box. my 9 year received a call on his emergency mobile asking him about PPI more needs to be done but No i wouldn't trust an app sorry

the amount of fake emails i get on a daily basis is unbelieveable. luckily i have come to know how to spot these fraudulent emails.

I had by banking details hacked and it was awful

what I hate is all the "games" on FB that involve asking for the name of your first pet/ first school/ mother's maiden name/ road you grew up to make your "Stripper Name" or whatever. I long ago stopped joining in because obviously these are all bits of info used in security questions. It's OK (ish) on MN where you aren't using your real name but on Facebook it can be easy to find out huge amounts of info.

My thing is family history. It is quite frightening how easy it is with a subscription to a FH website to trace people, then follow the family forwards on completely open Facebook pages. With a sub to 192 as well it would take you minutes to find out everything you needed to know about somebody to either stalk them or steal their ID. It's fun when you are nosy like me, but could be frightening if it was somebody with an ulterior motive.

I suppose I'm from the first generation where household computers was a common thing. However there are many internet users older than me that won't be as computer snazzy and therefore may be more trusting in online personas (in fact, there are probably numerous people from my generation and younger than would be overly trusting too). I think about all those spam emails claiming I need to validate my bank details or other personal details.

I think there should be more education available to make users aware and safe. Maybe billboards in town centres, or adverts during prime time TV reminding users to NEVER give out any personal details online as you don't really know who you are talking to.

I have learnt over the years to not trust anyone especially online, I prefer the old paper based system of proving we are who we claim to be :)

I simply do not understand how these fraudsters do it or how to secure myself more. As in, what are the MOST important things to keep safe/personal? Is it even all online or should we be shredding all mail with any details about us on it at all?

This is definitely all over the internet, you only have to know about catfish and i have seen it happen many a time. I am very wary with real details online. I dont really keep all my info on an app and prefer paper at home if i need to confirm my ID. I always worry that hackers can get any info anyway however secure, look at the nhs!

Knowing a few bloggers I can see that what they present and what is reality are two different things. I find it hilarious how hypocritical they are and how many sheep follow the like they are god's.

Online personas are too easy to fake and manipulate, so no I absolutely wouldn't trust an online persona. I would be careful with what information I share online.

Having been hit by card fraud a couple of times now I am paranoid about identity and information that's out there. I don't do any form of social media now as I just think that's another exposure and weak link. I worry so much about my children and their future - they don't have the common sense to question and double question everything - there are some pretty bad people out there and I think it's very easy for them to pretend to be something they're not and dupe people.

My biggest concern is identity theft and I am at a loss as to how that could be avoided.

The thing is nowadays with technology so advanced, it's so easy to commit fraud. I remember reading on reddit about a student who had faked their college certificates and managed to get into university. How nobody managed to catch on I have no idea!

Again with age restriction, it's so easy to photoshop a fake driving license and fake documents to show a different age. Yes, something that would verify identity would be useful to companies, however I'm not sure how that would help customers, as then that's just another organisation out of many that have access to our details.

TBH I would rather have a few additional moments of inconvenience in providing proof of who I am, rather than the nightmare of being the victim of fraud....

Books for preteens...

11 year old dd has been acting up a lot recently, lying all the time, shouting, slamming doors and arguing with almost everything I say.
Recently bought the book 'how to talk so teens will listen and listen so teens will talk'. Two chapters in and I decided to put the book use and boy did it work. I was almost knocked over when she started to open up almost immediately from simply changing my approach according to the book. Highly recommend this book. It will take a lot of biting my tongue but I can see the benefits already...

Some content definitely needs to be restricted but it's very hard to do, you simply just put a fake birthdate in a website and access all sorts of content that young kids shouldn't have access too. I know because that's the sort of things me and my friends would get up to when we were young online! Luckily parents are much more internet and tech savvy these days, or at least they should be, so you can make sure your kids aren't going onto sites they shouldn't be on or talking to people they shouldn't be talking to.

People fake their identities online all the time and it's scary to think even when kids are going on sites that might seem innocent they might be talking to people that aren't. I think it's important to educate kids, in schools and at homes about the dangers online. That you shouldn't trust people you talk to online, people have all sorts of tricks to fool you.

I don't like to share too much online, but sometimes it's hard to stop over sharing. I'd be happy to apply for social media etc using passport to stop identity fraud etc.

It's scary how much it costs!!!

Funny that they're asking this on an anonymous site where, if you listen to the complaints, is rife with trolls!

I actually think anonymous sites like thus are brilliant and you just have to take stories you reads with a grain of salt. Don't get too invested if you can't handle it and don't give money to strangers on the internet.

The internet is such a scary place where anyone can pose as anyone they desire! No mater what app is used, storing all personal data online is at risk.

I refuse to have contactless payment cards or payment app on my phone.

Advanced technology seems to come at a price. The trouble is that the advancements come at such a speed we are not intellectually and mentally prepared and it requires a huge effort, and mindfulness to avoid the problems. We become naive of what can happen, and it is stressful being ever vigilant and watchful. it usually takes an incident that affects us personally to wake us up.

Social media and smartphones are my biggest concern for my children.
We try to stick to appropriate age limits but at 13,12 and 9 they experience huge peer pressure to have the apps/devices that their friends are using.
It's very worrying that they have sometimes been inadvertently exposed to inappropriate content, eg through adverts or pop-ups. I also worry about online personas and who might try to contact them.
We educate them as best as we can about esafety but it is still a huge area of concern.

I don't do anything online that links to my actual being! Names, birthdays, details of situations are always a bit different to reality and I mostly never save passwords, I just click on "forgot password" so I have to make up an obscure new one each time.

I have friends who are on LinkedIn and facebook and it would take you literally 10 seconds to know everything you would ever want to know about them. These are intelligent people with really good jobs: I don't get how they lose their ability to see the dangers once they get on their phone or laptop.

Maybe I'm just knackered but the idea of an app that helps me prove my identity seems a bit weird...what if that is hacked?

Personally, while I enjoy the convenience of services like this, I don't trust them to keep my data secure. Look at Equifax.

It's a complete minefield, I met my partner online but I realised very quickly that alot of people online aren't who they say they are. I fear for kids and the more security, information I can gather the better for the future.