Glossary

Identity terms

17 identity terms in plain words, and the guides where they matter.

• CCJ (county court judgment) A CCJ (county court judgment) is a court order saying you owe someone money. It's usually made by default when you don't respond to a court claim, and it can make it harder to get credit.
• Credit alert A credit alert usually means a fraud alert: a free notice on your credit file that asks lenders to verify your identity before opening new credit in your name. It can also mean a notification from a monitoring service.
• Credit freeze A credit freeze, also called a security freeze, stops prospective creditors from seeing your credit report, so no one can open a new credit account in your name until you lift it.
• Credit protection Credit protection is any step that makes it harder for someone to open credit in your name. In the US, the two free tools are a credit freeze, which blocks new accounts, and a fraud alert, which makes lenders verify your identity first.
• Credit protection fees Credit protection fees are charges for paid services like credit locks and credit monitoring. A credit freeze, which protects you just as well from new accounts being opened, is free by law.
• Credit protection program A credit protection program is a service or set of tools that helps guard your credit file against identity theft, such as a credit freeze, a fraud alert or paid credit monitoring.
• Credit score in Australia Credit score in Australia is a number from a credit reporting body that summarises your credit report and helps lenders decide whether to lend to you and on what terms.
• Criminal identity theft Criminal identity theft is when someone gives your name and personal details to police when they are stopped or arrested, so the criminal record ends up in your name.
• DBS check A DBS check is a criminal record check from the Disclosure and Barring Service, used in England and Wales. Employers and voluntary organisations use it to check someone applying for a role. There are four levels, from basic to enhanced with barred lists.
• Digital ID Digital ID, or digital identity, is the unique representation of a person in an online transaction: the account or credentials that let a service recognize you. Some digital IDs are also tied to your real-world identity.
• Employment identity theft Employment identity theft is when someone uses your Social Security number or other personal information to get or keep a job, so their wages show up under your name.
• Examples of PII Examples of PII (personally identifiable information) include a name, Social Security number, date of birth, home address, phone number and biometric records: any information that can identify a person, alone or combined with other data.
• Identity management Identity management is the administration of individual identities within a system, such as a company, a network or a country, including who a person is and which roles and access privileges they hold.
• Identity provider (IdP) An identity provider (IdP) is a trusted service that confirms who you are and tells another service, such as an app or website, so you can sign in there without a separate password.
• Identity theft Identity theft is when someone uses your personal or financial information, such as your name, Social Security number or card details, without your permission, usually to get money, credit or services.
• Signs of identity theft The signs of identity theft include accounts on your credit report that you didn't open, bills or charges for things you didn't buy, and bills that stop arriving because someone changed your billing address.
• Soft credit check A soft credit check is a look at your credit file that doesn't affect your credit score and isn't a response to you applying for credit. Examples include checking your own report or a lender reviewing an existing account.

See where your personal data is exposed

Serus finds it on data brokers and people-search sites and removes it.

Run a free scan