NYCLifeinaFishbowl
By
Antony Chow
Today's
comic:
Commentary:
The self proclaimed "nation's leading provider of identification and
credential verification services" ChoicePoint
has been hit with a record $10 million fine by the Federal
Trade Commission
for charges related to last year's security
breach of consumer data. In addition to paying $5 million to
compensate consumers, ChoicePoint also agreed to change its procedures
to ensure only legitimate businesses get access to consumer reports for
lawful purposes, tighten its security for consumer data, and submit to
audits by security professionals every other year for the next 20
years. This is a very damning settlement for ChoicePoint and
highlights how inadequate its procedures have been in the past in
safeguarding consumer data.
In light of a number of recent security breaches of consumer data by
other firms, it will be interesting to see what FTC finds and fines.
