More Personal Data Thefts 


It has happened again: more personal data on US citizens were stolen from those companies that collect and resell this stuff. This time, LexisNexis, usually the above-board proto-Google, discovered that 32,000 records containing social security numbers, names, addresses, etc., were all taken. The good news, they claim, was that no personal financial or credit data was exposed. Not that it matters. With all the info they did get, the credit reports and whatnot aren't hard to get.

This is the second major breech of these data companies we've heard about in as many months. And are they going to be held responsible? Well, probably not. Unless you get in your own personal civil suit against these guys, nothing will happen to them except for their two minutes of shame and their stern new resolve to never let it happen again.

With all of the scams out there fishing for your data, what's a person to do when these jerks spew your data to just about anyone and everyone? The previous "break in" at ChoicePoint was even worse. It wasn't really even a break in. Just someone with some fake letterhead and a stolen credit card who purchased information on 140,000 consumers. If that's all it takes, there is really no way to prevent someone from opening lines of credit and whatnot with your ID. It's just you haven't won the stolen ID lottery - yet. It's probably just a matter of time. The fact that you can purchase this "private" information from these companies is crap. This shouldn't *EVER* be allowed without your express permission. These companies are little better than some thief selling your ID on the street corner.

When are we going to get real privacy laws in this country with some teeth? These companies should be paying through the nose because this information was leaked. Instead, they'll go on their merry ways, with some lip service paid toward "better" security.
 

 

Posted: Wed - March 9, 2005 at 03:06 PM          

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