There are reams of easily accessible, free information to teach you how to protect your private, personal identifying information from identity theft. The information is available from independent, reliable sources you can trust -- consumer advocacy groups, government agencies, and social and community organizations -- but it's up to you to obtain it and put it to use.

Here's a primer on the basic steps necessary to put you on the path to identity protection. Additional help is available from the same resources included here, should someone steal your identity or if, unfortunately, that has already occurred. The resources can help you put the "you" back in your identity and prevent further incursions.

While some of the basic advice on preventing ID-theft may sound drastic, keep in mind, some 33.4 million Americans say they have been victims of ID-theft or fraud since 1990.

Drastic steps are often necessary to keep identity thieves out of your life.

Measure your vulnerability

On one level, you may need to change your behavior to lower you profile as a potential ID-theft victim, but you need to first learn what habits to change.

Take the "Identity Theft Resource Center's" test to help determine your vulnerability to ID-theft. It will check your level of risk behavior and determine how prone you may be to an attack by identity thieves. The test will also help you correct risky behavior.

The test does not cover the risks posed by surfing the Net without virus, adware, spyware, email filtering software and other steps you must take to guard your identity online.

Batten the hatches

Some of the best ways to protect your information from electronic snoops are available from the U.S. Computer Emergency Readiness Team, now a division of Homeland Security, which offers a host of publications and information about digital data protection -- everything from email concerns to home computer networks and wirelessness -- on and off the Net.

Likewise, the affiliated Carnegie Mellon CERT Coordination Center is a warehouse of computer and other digital data security information for the home, business and industry.

Because much of ID-theft remains a crime involving filched physical documents, you'll also need to physically sure up your home with crime prevention measures to secure it from burglars, dumpster divers and guests with sticky fingers.

Don't let them get your numbers

ID thieves covet Social Security numbers. The national personal identification number issued at birth opens the door to pay checks, tax tracking, check purchases, credit, insurance coverage, and a host of other financial transactions. It grants easy access to who you are.

Memorize your Social Security number and don't carry your Social Security number or card with you. Don't write it on checks. Don't give it to anyone unless you initiate the transaction -- that includes employment, credit applications, renting an apartment, buying a home, etc.

Whenever possible, if an account uses your Social Security number as your account number ask for a different account number.

Even when you initiate the transaction or someone asks for your Social Security number, ask why they need it, how they will use it, how they will protect it from being stolen and what will happen if you don't supply them with your Social Security number. Satisfactory answers will help you determine if you want to share your number and sharing your number is your decision.

Likewise, protect your driver's license number, address, telephone number, credit card and other financial account numbers from prying eyes. Frequently change passwords and personal identification numbers (PINs) that allow you to access accounts on and off line.

You should have a cross cut shredder to destroy outdated and unneeded documents you want to discard. Shred credit card offers, unused convenience checks that access credit and financial accounts, replaced credit cards and other physical documents that contain information you don't want stolen.

You'll also need a secure, lockable location or safe in your home or elsewhere to store sensitive records you need to keep on hand. Consider a safe deposit box for valuable papers you don't need to access on a regular basis.

Opt out, off

Exercise your right to get off telemarketing and direct marketing lists by signing up for the federal Do Not Call registry, by joining the direct marketing industry's Telephone Preference Service (TPS), by exercising your CAN-SPAM rights and by getting the scoop on the recently approved "Junk Fax Protection Act of 2005".

Direct marketers don't go away easy, some are exempt from certain laws and sometimes you inadvertently sign up for their marketing push.

In some cases you may have to contact marketing firms and other companies directly, but when you do, they are mandated to stop contacting you -- even those who send circulars that show up in your postal mailbox every week.

You can also opt out of companies sharing your information with certain affiliates. Again, contact companies you do business with directly to opt out and off, often. Complain loudly and repeatedly to the Federal Trade Commission and local authorities if they don't.

Consider an unlisted telephone number and opt off the host of online cross reference directories and other data banks holding your information.

Learn which of your personal records are confidential and which are not.

Check your credit reports -- for free

One of your best ID-theft protections is the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACTA), which amends the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) and is loaded with provisions that help you opt out of credit card offers (888-567-8688), freeze your credit report information, let you add a fraud alert to your credit report and allows you to keep closer tabs on your credit reports.

Visit annualcreditreport.com once every four months and get a free credit report, each time from a different one of the three major credit reporting agencies to provide your own monitoring service all year.

The new law also entitles you to one free data report each year from any "specialty" data compiler regulated by the FCRA, including ChoicePoint's ChoiceTrust system, the MIB Group's files and ChexSystems'ConsumerDebit.Com service.

The new regulations also detail how companies and others must dispose of your sensitive data to better protect it from fraud and ID-theft.

Electronic surveillance

You can effectively set up you own system of electronic surveillance, if you use online statement services with companies with which you do business. Even if you don't pay bills online it's often possible to view your account online. Online statements allow you to view your account daily or even more often, if you wish, and quickly become aware of any misappropriations.

An online statement, with the same information on your printed statement, allows you to reduce the level of paper work available to thieves, but gives you the option to print out your own statement when necessary. Many banks are no also offering your copies of your canceled checks online.

If paper statements are more to your liking, always open your account statements right away to learn as soon as possible of any errors, fraudulent charges or questionable entries so you can report them immediately. If bills don't arrive on time, call your financial institution. It could mean they've been stolen or someone managed to divert the mailing for fraudulent reasons.

Finally, if monitoring your own financial records simply proves too daunting or time consuming, experts say there are some limited occasions when a fee-based monitoring service may be useful -- when many family members use the same credit card account, when you have little tolerance for risk or simply have a track record of carelessness with your records.

Likewise, ID-theft insurance can be useful if the benefits -- which primarily pay for your recovery costs -- are at a level you find valuable.

In both cases, you must read the small print, be fully aware of what you are buying and be sure you are dealing with a reputable company.

Even if you do choose to pay for certain services, they can't perform most of the tasks only you can complete at home, when you are away and online.

Additional detailed ID-theft assistance is available from the FTC and the Privacy Rights Clearing House.

Published: September 2, 2005

Use of this article without permission is a violation of federal copyright laws.

Broderick Perkins parlayed a career in old-school journalism into a contemporary digital news service that really hits home. The award-winning consumer journalist, originally from Wilmington, DE, is founder, publisher and executive editor of the bootstrap DeadlineNews Group, a Silicon Valley-based editorial content and consulting service specializing in residential real estate, consumer news and related editorial consulting services. The DeadlineNews Group includes the website, DeadlineNews.com, offering real estate editorial content and consulting services, and its back shop, the Deadline Newsroom, an open house on news that really hits home. Perkins obtained his formal journalism education from University of Delaware and a journalism boot camp, the Institute of Journalism Education at the University of California-Berkeley. He went on to 20 years of service as a daily newspaper journalist at the Wilmington, DE News Journal and San Jose, CA Mercury News. Perkins covered housing on the San Jose Mercury News reporting team which earned a General News Reporting Pulitzer Prize in 1989 for coverage of the Loma Prieta earthquake. He has also produced real estate, consumer and small business content for the Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, RealtyTimes.com, Nolo.com, Better Homes and Gardens, the National Association of Realtors, Homestore/Move and Intuit/Quicken among more than three dozen publications. In addition to managing the DeadlineNews Group, Perkins most recently served as chief editorial consultant for Nolo's Essential Guide To Buying Your First Home, Nolo, and writes real estate television scripts for RealtyTimes.com.