On December 17^th the Federal Trade Commission released new guidelines for institutions that store personal information. It recommends stricter precautions to leave fewer holes for ID theft to breach. If you’re concerned about identity fraud, however, you won’t want to wait for companies, schools, banks and other organizations to put those guidelines in place. Instead, you can use your discretion as a consumer to choose institutions that take appropriate precautions. Here are five quick tips to help you:

Look for Your SSN on Documents – Avoid That: Your Social Security Number is one of the most common points of attack for ID fraudsters. Once they have it, they can acquire loans, tax returns and numerous other stolen perks in your name. Pick institutions that don’t print your SSN on documents unless it’s absolutely necessary. That includes mailed account statements, reports and order forms.

Look for Anonymous Cards – Use Them: Many institutions that issue magnetic credit or ATM cards have abandoned printing names on them. This prevents ID theft by making it difficult for fraudsters to find out more about the owner of a lost or stolen card, or from doing online transactions in your name by using the name and card number together.

Look for Institutional Stability – Choose It: This guideline is more relevant than ever, but it descends from an old truism: Employees under stress are the least trustworthy. Fear of an immanent layoff tends to embolden potential white collar criminals within an institution. Choose vendors, banks and other organizations with a reliable track record that hasn’t been seriously shaken by the current economic crisis.

Check Online Encryption – Watch for Alerts: Any online financial transaction would be conducted under the protection of a Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) with an up to date security certificate. To test this, max out your web browser’s security settings. If you get an alert warning you of an out of date security certificate consider taking your business elsewhere.

Research Online – Look for Problems: In many cases ID fraud happens because of problems within an institution. Take some time to use Google or another search engine to look for any theft, fraud or bankruptcy-related information about the institution. Even if ID theft isn’t the problem, the search can reveal information about the way the organization conducts itself. If the institution keeps getting computer equipment stolen, for example, think twice about using them.

Once you look over the retailer, bank or other organization and it meets your standards, feel free to use them, but always exercise personal responsibility for your information. It only takes one mistake on either end to give fraudsters access to your information. LifeLock and similar services can provide a third “watchdog” to help you.