Choicepoint, April 20
- Presto Vivace reports that:
During the April NCC AIIM meeting, a member of the audience asked how the IRS’ Free-File could avoid becoming another ChoicePoint, clearly a reference to recent security breaches. Everyone in the room immediately understood the reference; no explanation was needed.
- CBS Marketwatch reports “For now, little way to halt firms’ leaks of consumer data,” with lots of Choicepoint. Also, this gem from Lexis Nexis spokesperson Steve Edwards demonstrates how far we have to go:
“We’re setting up [new guidelines] to help them administer and protect their IDs and passwords. I won’t get into too much detail there because then we’re giving away the secrets to the bad guys,” Edwards said.
Let me guess, 7 or more characters, mixed letters and numbers, change regularly, and don’t share it? Did I give something away to the bad guys?
- Kim Zetter at Wired reports “ChoicePoint Division Changes Tack:”
Rapsheets, a Tennessee company purchased by ChoicePoint last year, provides instant criminal background checks to employers and organizations to help them screen workers and volunteers.
…The move brings the company into compliance with the Fair Credit Reporting Act, or FCRA, which requires background-checking services to either provide employers with the most-current information available from public records or to notify workers and job applicants when they are providing an employer with damaging information about them that is likely to affect their job prospects.
…“The high road would be for them to say, ‘We’re going to verify anything before we deliver a record to an employer,'” [Mike Coffey, president of Texas investigation firm Imperative Information Group] said. “They’re still going to put the onus back on the consumer to make sure that everything is correct.”
I have a current post on the connection between security and privacy that might interest you.
http://technoflak.blogspot.com/2005/05/why-security-and-privacy-are-linked.html