Bob Sullivan over at The Red Tape Chronicles has posted an excellent piece on “Dear John Data Letters,” a name he’s given to the all-too-common notification letters that breaching organizations send to their “victims” (their customers whose data they’ve lost).

He says, “I call them Dear John data letters, because of the bad news they bring and their decidedly warm and fuzzy tone.”

Indeed!

His article shows the apparent disconnect between consumers, the letters, and the consequences. According to Sullivan, “About one in nine consumers receives a Dear John data letter each year, and nearly half of all consumers have received at least one since the year 2000, when California law forced these kinds of disclosures on corporations and government agencies, according to a new study.”

But, he says:

“That same study shows consumers who receive such a notice are four times more likely to be hit with identity theft than members of the general population.

In fact, U.S. adults who get a Dear John data letter have a one in five chance of being victimized in the next 12 months, according to the survey, conducted by financial services research firm Javelin Research.

The researchers have concluded that consumers don’t take the notices seriously enough.”

It appears that lots of people get these letters (that we knew), few of them take them seriously, and most do not realize that their identities really are likely in jeopardy.

This will need to change, for certain.