What is Personally Identifiable Information

The proliferation of the Internet has intensified the privacy protection and identity theft crises. A December 2013 report by the U.S. Department of Justice indicates that 16.6 million persons were victims of identity theft with direct and indirect losses amounting to almost $24.7 billion in 2012 (Harrell & Langton, 2013). These startling and apparently persistent statistics have prompted the United States and other foreign governments to initiate strategic plans and to enact several regulations in order to curb the crisis. This chapter surveys recently enacted national and international laws pertaining to identity theft and privacy issues. Further, it discusses the interplay between privacy and security, the various incentives and deterrence for privacy protection, and the prospects for the simulation of the social and behavioral aspects of privacy using the agent-based modeling.