Michigan State University research indicates that 50% to 70% of identity theft originates in the workplace by employees and persons pretending to be employees. "Our research also showed that the majority of those identities were stolen first and foremost from health−care−related institutions, and secondly from financial institutions," said Judith Collins, MSU researcher.

Now there is a federal proposal to increase the penalties for those who abuse the information they have access to. The Identity Theft Penalty Enhancement Act would establish a new crime of aggravated identity theft that would increase the penalties for such a crime. This may be similar to credit access abuse where both the employer and the individual have liability. Financial institutions may soon be emphasizing this in regular training when the safeguarding and confidentiality of customer information is discussed.