Has Data Breach Legislation actually impacted ID Theft?

According to a recent paper published by Sasha Romanosky, Rahul Telang and Alessandro Acquisti of the Heinz School of Public Policy and Management at Carnegie Mellon University, the data breach legislation instituted from 2002 thru 2006 has had little effect on reducing ID theft.
While the legislation has not reduced ID theft cases the debate is still ongoing if has slowed the rate of increase. It seems the rate of increase is the same in states with legislation and in those without legislation.

A fascinating study showing how the legislation has made companies more aware, vigilant and proactive, but the net result is just plain lacking. Some of the more intersting findings from the paper were:

1. 44% of consumers ignore data breach notices, Choicepoint indicated that only 10% of consumers opted for the free credit watch services.
2. Most companies under estimate the costs associated with a data breach. Choicepoint reported a cost of $26 million related to their data breach and TJ Max reported a cost of 178 million related to their data breach.
3. The impact of a data breach on a companies overall performance, sales and stock performance are temporary typically lasting less than 4 quarters.
To read more on this article go to: "Do Data Breach Disclosure Laws Reduce Identity Theft?".