The Identity Theft Prevention Group consists of more than 40 consortium members including American Express, Intel and Nokia, and said it will tackle identity theft in a vendor-neutral way.

Michael Barrett, vice-president of security strategy at American Express and co-chairman of the group, said there is a growing awareness among Liberty members that current efforts to solve the problem are failing.

“Things are getting worse so what [other organisations] are doing obviously isn’t working,” said Barrett. “We’re unusual because we don’t specialise in one particular thing, like the Anti-Phishing Working Group,” he added.

As well as suggesting technology solutions and best-practice advice for consumers and businesses, Barrett said the new group may recommend changes to regulations.

Graham Titterington of analyst firm Ovum said he was sceptical about what another “talking shop” could do to address the issue of identity theft, although he admitted that Liberty Alliance had been successful with previous initiatives.

The group is currently consulting its members to help it create a definition of identity theft, before reaching a consensus on the best methods to tackle the problems.

‹ www.projectliberty.org