To designers of secure computer systems, identity is a core concept of authentication. Identity theft is said to occur when one person gains control of credentials (such as credit card numbers or passwords) which belong to another, thus becoming able to masquerade as the "stolen" identity. A computer system consists of a set of hardware and software which processes data in a meaningful way. ... In computer security, authentication (Greek: αυθεντικός, from authentes=author) is the process by which a computer, computer program, or another user attempts to confirm that the computer, computer program, or user from whom the second party has received some communication is, or is not, the claimed first party. ... Identity theft (or identity fraud) is the deliberate assumption of another persons identity, usually to gain access to their finances or frame them for a crime. ... Credit cards A credit card system is a type of retail transaction settlement and credit system, named after the small plastic card issued to users of the system. ... A password is a form of secret authentication data that is used to control access to a resource. ...

Identity might rely on:

• Name
• Address
• Credit card number ¹
• Postcode or ZIP Code
• Phone number
• National Insurance number (UK) or Social Security number (US)¹
• DNA ²
• Iris in the eye ³
• Fingerprints ⁴
• Birthmarks
• Dental records ⁵
• Tattoos ⁶

1. This is individual only to you, unless an administrative mistake is made, or someone gets hold of this number by reading it from paper in your trash.
2. This is individual to you, your identical twin, your clone, or anyone who can obtain a sample of your DNA and amplify it
3. This is individual only to you, or anyone wearing a suitable contact lens with the pattern of your iris on, or the 1% of the population who will be recognised as you as a false positive.
4. This is individual only to you, unless someone copies your fingerprint off any clean surface using a digital camera and then prints it out and transfers it to a relief pattern on a piece of gel.
5. This is individual only to you. Be prepared to have a dental X-ray every time you need to identify yourself.
6. This could be individual only to you: watch out. See ka-tzetnik.

Note: all of the other identifiers listed are unlikely to be unique to you, and allow confusion between yourself and the previous or subsequent occupants of your address and users of your phone number. A name is a label for a thing, person, place, product (as in a brand name), and even an idea or concept, normally used to distinguish one from another. ... An address is a code and abstract concept expressing the fixed location of a home, business or other building on the earths surface. ... Australian and UK postal codes are known as postcodes. ... Mr. ... A telephone number is a sequence of decimal digits (0-9) that is used for identifying a destination telephone line in a telephone network. ... National insurance is a system of taxes, and related social security benefits, that has operated in the United Kingdom since its introduction in 1911, and wider extension by the government of Clement Attlee in 1946. ... This article needs cleanup. ... Wikiquote has a collection of quotations by or about: United States Wikinews has a related story: United States United States government CIA World Factbook Entry for United States House. ... Space-filling model of a section of DNA molecule DNA Under electron microscope Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) or deoxyribose nucleic acid is a nucleic acid that contains the genetic instructions specifying the biological development of all cellular forms of life (and many viruses). ... The human iris The iris is the grey-brown area. ... A fingerprint is an imprint made by the pattern of ridges on the pad of a human finger. ... A birthmark, is a blemish on the skin formed before birth. ... Dentals are consonants articulated with either the lower or the upper teeth, or both. ... This article is about the tattoo, a design in ink or some other pigment, usually decorative or symbolic, placed permanently under the skin. ... Fraternal twin boys in the tub The term twin most notably refers to two individuals (or one of two individuals) who have shared the same uterus (womb) and usually, but not necessarily, born on the same day. ... Cloning is the process of creating an identical copy of an original. ... In the NATO phonetic alphabet, X-ray represents the letter X. An X-ray picture (radiograph) taken by Röntgen An X-ray is a form of electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength approximately in the range of 5 pm to 10 nanometers (corresponding to frequencies in the range 30 PHz... Ka-tzetnik (KZ-nik) was short for concentration camp designate (or inmate) to refer to Jews imprisoned in camps during the Holocaust. ...

Related

Digital identity Digital Identity is the representation of Identity in terms of digital information. ...

See also Recognition of human individuals, identity (social science) and change. Recognition of acquaintances From nearby, a human individual is mainly recognized by his or her face. ... The notion of identity has many uses throughout the social sciences. ... This article is about the normal meaning of change (things varying). ...