Consumer

Lots of people laughed through the 2013 comedy Identity Thief, in which Melissa McCarthy plays a character who steals Jason Bateman’s identity and proceeds to go on a spending spree, buying everything from jewelry to a jet ski. All joking aside, identity theft is on the rise, especially targeting young people who tend to overshare when using technology and on social media. KWHS explores identity theft – it’s definition, increase, and even one young entrepreneur’s app to help prevent your personal information from falling into the wrong hands.

Shoppers with a mobile wallet app can start using their smartphones to make payments at any store that uses a near-field communication reader available at checkout. Lots of companies, from Google to startup Venmo have entered the mobile wallet market, and yet consumers are slow to adopt this new payment method. What’s behind the lack of popularity? Will mobile wallets ever become the norm? This Knowledge@Wharton article – with KWHS commentary from young Silicon Valley tech whiz Daniel Brusilovsky – explores these questions and more.