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Choicepoint
built 637 days ago
Choicepoint is one of the largest data aggregators and resellers in the country. It compiles, stores, and sells information about virtually every U.S. adult. Its customers include employers, debt collectors, loan officers, media organizations, law offices, law enforcement, among others. The identity thieves who obtained ChoicePoint accounts through the establishment of fake businesses had the information equivalent of the key to Fort Knox. With their online access to ChoicePoint’s data files, they were able to obtain all the personal information they needed – including Social Security numbers and date of birth – to successfully commit identity theft.
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Choicepoint apologized for selling personal information to criminals, and announced a series of reforms. The company is no longer going to sell "sensitive" personal information to small businesses. The company will still sell its full reports to big businesses and federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies (Choicepoint estimates that it has 100,000 clients, including contracts with 7,000 law enforcement agencies). Small businesses will still be able to buy Choicepoint reports, but it appears that Social Security Numbers will be truncated in some fashion. The company ... announced that they are working on a system to provide access to all if its information products. However, individuals will not be able to correct their "public records" reports.
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Choicepoint, a data gathering company, reported last week that it gave out the personal financial info in October to what it thought were reputable businesses. The announcement left lawmakers, consumers, and credit card companies all screaming for tighter controls. Choicepoint’s stock has fallen more than 7 percent to $42.17 since news of the security breach first leaked last week.
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Anne Wexler of Wexler and Walker Public Policy Associates is the registered US Senate lobbyist for Choicepoint. According to the US Senate Office of Public Records, Wexler was paid approximately $40,000 for the six month period to June 30, 2003. [4]
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Third, these public records reports sold by Choicepoint have been shown to be highly inaccurate. According to a report by Pam Dixon of the World Privacy Forum, Choicepoint's public information reports have a very high error rate. In her sample, 90% of the reports obtained contained errors; frequently these errors were serious, such as individuals being identified by the wrong sex. Dixon's initial findings are supported by anecdotal stories of other individuals who have obtained their unregulated ChoicePoint reports. Elizabeth Rosen, a victim of the Choicepoint privacy breach, found that five of the six pages of her report contained errors. Rosen's report erroneously indicated that she was the officer of businesses in Texas, that she maintained a private mail box at "Mailboxes Etc.," and that she owned businesses, including a "Zach's Cheese and Deli." Privacy researcher Richard Smith obtained his Choicepoint report and wrote that his report "contain[ed] more misinformation than correct information." Deborah Pierce's National Comprehensive Report from ChoicePoint falsely indicated a "possible Texas criminal history."
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"The information bundled by Choicepoint and its competitors is gleaned from public and proprietary sources and includes everything from driving records to criminal histories. The data is used for background checks, fraud investigations, insurance applications and to locate criminal suspects." [3]
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Choicepoint