ChoicePoint files found riddled with errors (And * paying for Lat Am Info)

[RamboLiberal]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7118767/

Deborah Pierce held a rare and precious document in her hands. It was the story of her life, as told by ChoicePoint Inc. She wasn't supposed to see it; an anonymous source had smuggled the report to her. But there it was, her "National Comprehensive Report," 20 pages long, a complete dossier of all the digital breadcrumbs she's left behind during her adult life.

At least, that's what it was supposed to be.

Pierce said she felt an uneasy twinge in her stomach as she began to flip the pages. A dozen former addresses were listed, along with neighbors and their phone numbers. Almost 20 people were listed as relatives -- and their neighbors were listed, too. There were cars she supposedly owned, businesses she supposedly worked for.

But the more closely she looked, the more alarmed she became: The report was littered with mistakes.

<snip>

What first caught Pierce's eye, she said, was a heading titled "possible Texas criminal history." A short paragraph suggested additional, "manual" research, because three Texas court records had been found that might be connected to her. "A manual search on PIERCE D.S." is recommended, it said.

Firm in Florida election fiasco earns millions from files on foreigners

http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,12271,949709,00.html

A data-gathering company that was embroiled in the Florida 2000 election fiasco is being paid millions of dollars by the Bush administration to collect detailed personal information on the populations of foreign countries, enraging several governments who say the records may have been illegally obtained.

US government purchasing documents show that the company, ChoicePoint, received at least $11m (£6.86m) from the department of justice last year to supply data - mainly on Latin Americans - that included names and addresses, occupations, dates of birth, passport numbers and "physical description". Even tax records and blood groups are reportedly included.

Nicaraguan police have raided two offices suspected of providing the information. The revelations threaten to shatter public trust in electoral institutions, especially in Mexico, where the government has begun an investigation.

The controversy is not the first to engulf ChoicePoint. The company's subsidiary, Database Technologies, was responsible for bungling an overhaul of Florida's voter registration records, with the result that thousands of people, disproportionately black, were disenfranchised in the 2000 election. Had they been able to vote, they might have swung the state, and thus the presidency, for Al Gore, who lost in Florida by a few hundred votes.



These bastards should've been busted in 2000 when they helped *, Jebbie and Cruella steal the election.

[Kolesar]

1. There goes all hopes of going underground...eom

[plasticsundance]

2. Here another article on ChoicePoint misconduct

http://atlanta.creativeloafing.com/news_scalawag.html

The Alpharetta-based data broker didn't admit it right away. When the news broke Feb. 15, the company initially tried to say the breach affected only a few hundred Californians. That's because California is the only state that requires potential victims to be notified; but for that law, ChoicePoint might have succeeded in covering up the fraud indefinitely, even though the company first learned of the problem in October.

Even with the advance notice, ChoicePoint CEO Derek Smith spent nearly a week dodging the press and refusing interviews, instead sending out PR flacks to explain how "sophisticated" and "extremely well organized" the thieves had been. As it turns out, ChoicePoint had sent reams of sensitive consumer info to guys who'd faxed them fake business licenses from Kinko's. So much for safeguards.

When Smith finally spoke up, it was through a press release whining that "no one, including us, is immune from ... fraud."

Sorry, Derek, but when you're dealing with the legal and financial records of nearly every man, woman and child in America - as ChoicePoint makes its business to do - such self-pitying platitudes are not good enough.

[central scrutinizer]

3. Greg Palast has been all over Choice Point

for years now. Read his stuff if you still think that Gore lost Florida in 2000.

[DBoon]

4. files like this are important in any police state

the better to watch people, know their associates, know how to pressure and threaten them more effectively.

[Kimber Scott]

5. If ChoicePoint has a record on me, I should have the right to see it.

And do they not fall under the Privacy Act? I'm not a lawyer, or a legistlator, but it seems some regulation is in order here. I wonder how I would go about finding out what they know about me?

[RamboLiberal]

6. I think we should have a right to examine any personal records

Govt or private entity. Imagine what they have on DU'ers.

[cosmicdot]

7. for what good it might do ... I wrote one of Senators ...

to call for an end of this data collection practice ... Accenture, Acxiom, SAIC, USIS ... grocery stores ...

how ironic that a company which 'steals' our private identity every day has that data 'stolen'?

this is suppose to make us more secure by having our private data
floating around the virtual universe?

I figured she, this Senator, couldn't say no one ever brought up the concern.

Americans should be up in arms over this reckless practice done as a business.

Of course, this isn't the only loose cannon of an industry in this country. There's that soon-to-be-available product which will be able to send shock waves on protestors from a distance? Americans sitting around brainstorming how they can injure fellow Americans. Are we a sick society yet? American ingenuity and entrepreneurship is trending toward evil things inspired by the BFEE and its peers.

[burrowowl]

8. To quote you:

Americans should be up in arms over this reckless practice done as a business.

Didn't Vance packard write a book called A Nation of Sheep?