The problem of identity theft was once thought of as primarily a problem within the United States, but recent media attention has highlighted the growing identity theft problem in the United Kingdom and Australia. As a result, the European Union has begun to examine the scope of the identity theft problem within its geographic territory. The author notes that within Europe, personal identification information is well guarded and citizens are very resistant to providing such information due to historical events such as World War II when personal information was used to identify Jewish citizens. Moreover, businesses are not allowed to collect as much personal data in European nations and the government uses social security numbers only for security purposes, which stands in contrast to the way in which personal information and social security numbers are used in the United States. For these reasons, while identity theft remains a modest problem in Europe there are signs it is growing in prominence within some member nations. However, critics claim that statistics on the growing trend of identity theft in EU member states is exaggerated in order to gain support for new legislative initiatives. Others point out that identity theft estimates in member states may actually be low because of reporting differences that count identity theft crimes as different types of crimes. However, Europol acknowledged in a 2003 report that the problem of identity theft within the EU member states was a growing problem, particularly for the United Kingdom. In 2004, the European Commission established a new Action Plan for 2004-2007 to prevent fraud on noncash means of payment. Notes