The group announced on June 28, 2006, was the Center for Identity Management and Information Protection (CIMIP), a research collaborative based at Utica College, now Utica University. It brought academic, corporate, government, and law-enforcement organizations together to study identity fraud and theft and develop findings intended to inform policy and practice. It was a research initiative—not a consumer identity-monitoring service or a promise that the group itself would stop individual cases.
What was CIMIP?
Utica College announced CIMIP on June 28, 2006. Its founding purpose was to advance a national research agenda on identity management, information sharing, and data protection. The center’s stated approach was to turn research into practical outcomes, including best practices, policy, regulation, legislation, training, and proactive initiatives. CIMIP’s institutional description presents that mission; it does not establish the center’s current operating status.
Congressman Sherwood Boehlert, then chairman of the House Science Committee, described the launch as a coordinated research and education effort bringing together academia, business, and law enforcement to protect personal data. The announcement is preserved in Utica College’s June 2006 release.
Which organizations joined the launch?
The launch announcement named the following founding participants. These are historical affiliations, not a confirmed current membership list.
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- Utica College
- LexisNexis
- IBM
- U.S. Secret Service
- Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
- Carnegie Mellon University Software Engineering Institute’s CERT/CC
- Indiana University’s Center for Applied Cybersecurity Research
- Syracuse University’s CASE Center
The FBI’s account of the launch also describes the cross-sector collaboration. Dr. Gary R. Gordon was named as CIMIP’s initial head.
What work did the group plan?
CIMIP’s announced agenda connected criminal behavior, technology, and public policy. Its five areas of focus were:
- Investigating the causes of identity fraud and theft, and ways to detect and prevent them earlier.
- Examining changing threats from cybercriminals, insiders, and organized crime groups.
- Assessing how policy decisions, laws, and regulations affect identity fraud and protection.
- Improving identity authentication to reduce fraud and improper payments and help protect national security.
- Studying technologies that protect information while supporting privacy and information sharing.
The breadth of the agenda mattered: the proposed work was not limited to building a security product. It included research into criminal methods, authentication, data protection, privacy, and the rules governing how information is used and shared.
What was the first project, and what funding followed?
The launch materials described an initial project with the Bureau of Justice Assistance to examine groups that perpetrate identity fraud and theft, including their methods. On September 28, 2006, Utica College reported that the U.S. Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs had awarded it a $173,948 grant for quantitative and qualitative analysis of closed federal law-enforcement cases involving identity fraud. The grant announcement is available from Utica College.
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Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →The grant supports a specific account of planned case analysis; it should not be mistaken for a measure of how much identity theft the project prevented or for evidence that the center handled individual victims’ cases.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What the announcement does—and does not—show
The 2006 announcement documented a collaborative research effort, its founding participants, its intended agenda, and a subsequent grant for case analysis. It did not establish that CIMIP directly investigated individual identity-theft complaints, offered consumer services, or eliminated fraud. Nor do the cited institutional materials verify the center’s present status or current partners. The historical title’s “stop ID theft” phrasing describes the initiative’s goal, not a demonstrated consumer outcome.
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