James McCartney is a leading expert in the areas of Identity Theft, Privacy and Identity Management, specializing in managing the balance between government necessity, corporate desire and personal privacy. He is a coauthor of the book If You Are Me, Then Who Am I – Why Identity Theft Matters to Consumers and Businesses, a founding partner of Accurate Data Partners and an Identity Management and Privacy Consultant with Deloitte.

As a consultant, he has worked with the Department of Homeland Security, the Transportation Security Administration, the Veterans Health Administration and is currently working with the Department of Defense. He led the Citizen Outreach Focus Group, under the Identity, Credentialing and Access Management Sub Committee of the CIO Council, developing recommendations on how the government should securely manage online transaction with citizens.

Within the DoD, he has worked for several years helping to implement next generation identification cards for the military. He has been the lead for DoD Social Security Number (SSN) reduction, including leading the team that developed the DoD instruction for use of the SSN and the removal of the Social Security Number (SSN) from military ID cards and changing the Geneva Conventions number for the United States. He is also a member of the Defense Privacy Board.

With regard to Identity Theft, he was a leading member of the Interagency working group responsible for SSN Reduction. He has worked with the Federal Trade Commission, including providing advice to the Identity Protection and Privacy division of the FTC on the implementation of the recently published Red Flags Rule. His book, If You Are Me, the Who Am I?, is now in use by the California Office of Privacy Protection as the lead for their latest marketing campaign and is on the Navy CIO’s Recommended Reading List.

He is a sought-after speaker on Identity Theft and Privacy having spoken to groups such as the International Association for Privacy Professional, the Public Risk Managers Association, the Department of Navy CIO, the American National Standards Institute’s ID Management Standards Panel, the Wisconsin and Minnesota Bar Associations, Adobe, and JD Power.

Prior to working in this field, he was a Nuclear Engineer and Surface Warfare Officer in the US Navy and is a graduate of the US Air Force Academy.

John P. Gardner, Jr. is an attorney and one of the nations leading experts on Identity Theft. While others were scrambling to tell people to lock their mailboxes and shred their credit card statements, Mr. Gardner was warning consumers of the potential health risks, Social Security and tax issues, financial disasters, and the reality that they could face false imprisonment as a result of someone stealing their identity.

He has consulted with various State Governmental entities, including members of the Kentucky Senate, the Michigan House of Representatives, and the South CarolinaSenate Finance and House Judiciary Committee Staff on Identity Theft, Privacy and Data Protection legislation. He has helped to implement Identity Theft Protection programs which today protect hundreds of thousands of Americans’ Identities and even more recently, he has been educating Major Corporations, Hospitals, Government Agencies and Small Businesses on how to better protect the Identities and Non-public Information of their employees and customers.

Mr. Gardner has traveled extensively across North America speaking to groups and providing training to many organizations. As a Keynote Speaker on Identity Theft, Privacy, and Data Protection, he has presented to the National Association of Insurance Women (NAIW), The Independent Physicians Association of America (TIPAAA), The Oklahoma Chiefs of Police Association, the Professional Healthcare Institute of America (PHIA), the National Restaurant Association (NRA), and the American Recovery Association (ARA). He has trained at the International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP), American Association of Managing General Agents (AAMGA) University, the National Convention of the Public Risk Manager’s Association (PRIMA) and been broadcast live over Ford Motor’s Dealer Network to all their Ford, Lincoln, Mercury, Mazda and Volvo Dealers.

He as well has conducted Continuing Education Programs on Identity Theft, Data Protection, and Privacy Laws for the Arizona Bar Association, Tennessee Municipal Attorneys Association, Wisconsin Bar Association as well as Insurance and Human Resource Continuing Education Programs.

Mr. Gardner is a coauthor of If You Are Me, Then Who Am I? - The Personal and Business Reality of Identity Theft and Chicken Soup for the Entrepreneur’s Soul, one of the books in the best selling non-fiction series in history.

Previously, Mr. Gardner served four terms in the South Carolina General Assembly and actively practiced law for twenty three years. He is a member of the International Association of Privacy Professionals, a Certified Identity Theft Risk Management Specialist, and an Expert Member of Alexander Haig’s World Business Review Advisory Board.