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ChoicePoint Not the Only Weak Link in the Data Chain

February 25, 2005
Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) charges that the ChoicePoint security breach pales in comparison to the personal data available through another data search service, Westlaw, and said he would introduce legislation curbing identity theft.

ChoicePoint • Lexis-Nexis Parent To Buy ChoicePoint • ChoicePoint Settles Data Breach Lawsuit • More ChoicePoint Identity Theft Victims Identified • ChoicePoint Settles With Attorneys General Over Data Breach • FTC Finally Sets Up Redress For ChoicePoint Victims • ChoicePoint Names a "Consumer Advocate" • FTC Fails To Pay Victims Of ChoicePoint Data Breach • ChoicePoint Gets a Makeover • Data Blunders Cost ChoicePoint $15 Million • Guilty Plea in ChoicePoint Data Theft • ChoicePoint Finds More Cases Of Illegal Data Access • ChoicePoint Responds • PATRIOT Act Further Empowers ChoicePoint • Previous Data Thefts Went Unreported • Consumers Will Be Able to See Their ChoicePoint Records, Company Says • Nigerian Sentenced to Prison in ChoicePoint Theft • State Tally of ChoicePoint Victims • ChoicePoint Breach Worse Than First Reported • Is National Security Compromised by ID Theft? • States Demand ChoicePoint Notify ID Theft Victims • Private Information Stolen from Nationwide Consumer Database

Schumer said he asked Westlaw to close "an egregious loophole in their Internet-based 'People-Find'" but was "brushed off."

"This egregious loophole makes millions of Social Security numbers available at the touch of a computer button. Average Americans are just as vulnerable to identity theft as Vice President Dick Cheney and supermodel Paris Hilton," Schumer said.

"The employees and interns of corporations, the Federal court system, and the United States Senate do not need unfettered access to millions of Social Security numbers and other private information."

"Westlaw’s 'People-Find' service might as well be the first chapter of ‘Identity Theft for Dummies,’" Schumer said. "Criminals no longer need forage through dumpsters for discarded bills - they just need to send Westlaw a check and they're in the identity theft business."

This loophole was brought to Schumer's attention by a constituent who works for the federal courts who then contacted a Schumer staffer who confirmed that the Senate office also has access to this feature.

"I plan to introduce legislation in the very near future to plug these egregious loopholes allowing millions of Social Security numbers to be on the Internet," Schumer told a news conference.

Westlaw is a service used mostly by large insurance companies, state and federal regulatory agencies and law firms. Executives of the company said they were "surprised" by the senator's comments.

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