Choicepoint

Last year Choicepoint, a data broker, inadvertently sold over 163,000 personal records to criminals. They ended up settling with the Federal Trade Commission back in January to pay $5 million to consumers as a reimbursement for the expenses incurred as a result of the security breach. Another $10 million was tacked on as a fine for the company.

(As a side note, I did not exactly know what a 'data broker' was, so I searched for the term. I can vaguely put together what it means, but as a working definition, I did not understand exactly what these companies do with their data as a 'broker.' Evidently, these companies maintain gigantic databases of things like SSN's, birthdays, credit reports, and other sensitive data.)

The FTC has just begun mailing out forms to 1,400 victims that were identified as having spent money to clear up identity theft issues arising from Choicepoint's mistake. There is also a website where consumers can download a version of the file if they do not receive one by mail. This is for people who believe that they have had identity theft issues stemming from scammers getting their information from Choicepoint.

Alternately, if you are just concerned about the privacy of your phone records, check out EPIC's website. EPIC is the Electronic Privacy Information Center, and is a virtual clearinghouse for identity theft and privacy issues, mostly relating to the internet and other electronic forms of communication.

If you would like to have your address and phone removed from search engines on the web, you need to visit these sites independently. Here's the main ones:
Google Phone Book Removal
Infospace - On this one, you gotta search for your info, then remove
YellowPages Switchboard - Once again, search for your data, then click update
Yahoo People Search Removal
Verizon Super Pages Removal
White Pages - Search for it, then click on 'Privacy Concerns?'
AnyWho Privacy
Addresses.com
Intelius - Submit a request
ZabaSearch - You gotta submit an email on this one, & then they'll give you instructions

**These links are courtesy of Bob Rankin. He has an excellent newsletter you can catch at his website - the link is in the upper right corner.


It's interesting to note that a person's address and phone number could previously be found in phone books quite easily, but with the advent of technology like Google Earth, an address can be visually pinpointed on a map. Also, it's easy to plug someone's address into MapQuest which will give you step-by-step directions to get there. As this technology becomes more prevalent, we will begin to see more people concerned with how this data is handled. It's one thing to have your address displayed amongst thousands of others in a drab black-and-white phone book; it seems drastically different to have someone be able to see your car in your driveway, and you on the lawn when they look you up. Smile, you're on camera!