ChildSecure and FamilySecure

Increasingly, children are becoming the targets of identity theft. According to the US Federal Trade Commission, 10,835 identity theft complaints were filed on behalf of victims under 18 years old in 2006, up from 6,512 in 2003.

Identity thieves target children by illegally obtaining their personal information, such as their name, age, address and Social Security number, and fraudulently opening lines of credit using these details.

Experian has created a product that searches its database for credit inquiries, open accounts and public records such as bankruptcies, tax liens or monetary judgments associated with the child’s identity. If a match is found, the parent or guardian is alerted via e-mail, and information is provided regarding how to take corrective action if identity theft has occurred. Parents and guardians can enroll an unlimited number of their minor children in ChildSecure, and each member is covered by a $25,000 identity theft insurance policy.

Jennifer Carlson, mother of 4 children, commented:

"I'm glad to see a reputable company taking initiative to protect my kids from Identity Theft. It makes me more at ease to know my family's information is accessible to me at my discretion and with up-to-date information and alerts to allow me to monitor our personal information.

It gives me a better impression of Experian, as they seem to be the front-runner and leader in protecting an entire family and not just the adults."

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Environment and social responsibility reporting

Incorporating social and environmental objectives with a company’s economic objectives is becoming a more common management model and ultimately will lead to a more sustainable society.

The demand for a combined report that covers the financial, environmental and social health of a company is being driven, in Brazil,  by financial institutions’ desire to understand the full picture of risks presented to them during the investment process. And a growing number of companies have begun to require a responsible social and environmental position from suppliers.

In 2007 Serasa introduced a report that covers environmental performance and developed  a report framework to assess companies’ social contribution. The reports were built using a base of questionnaires aligned to the guidelines and parameters of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) and the performance standards of the World Bank Group’s International Finance Corporation (IFC).

They hope to be able to market them together with their economic-financial reports in 2008 to give a full analysis of risk in all three spheres.

Mr. Ernst Ligteringen, President of the GRI commented: “We congratulate Serasa’s unique initiative. . . Organisations which evaluate practices and set criteria for evaluations, like Serasa, are playing a critical role in accelerating the practice of measurement and management for sustainability. In its recent actions to incorporate environmental measures into its valuation tools, Serasa has proven it is aware of its responsibility to build a better world."

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