Secondary Screening: ChoicePoint's Mr. Smith Goes To Washington

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March 15, 2005 | ChoicePoint's Mr. Smith Goes To Washington

ChoicePoint CEO Derek Smith and LexisNexis's president Kurt P. Sanford testified before Congress today, and though Smith apologized for his company's data leak, that didn't spare him a public berating by Massachusetts Congressman Edward Markey.

Markey repeatedly tried to get Smith to agree to extend credit monitoring services for longer than a year to folks affected by ChoicePoint's lax security procedures. Smith refused to budge, finally arguing a year was long enough.

One suspected the onslaught was coming given Markey's previous statements on the issue, his co-sponsorship of legislation to curb data marketers and his opening statement (.doc).

It reads, in part:

How would consumers feel if they discovered that while they take extra precautions to guard their personal information, their names, social security numbers, tax records, credit histories and employment documents were piled high into wheelbarrows and baskets and sold to the highest bidder in a bustling market place that is as frenetic and unregulated as the streets of Bombay?
“RIGHT HERE, GET YOUR SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBERS!!!!”
“MEEEEEEEEDICAL RECORDS, EMPLOYMENT HISTORY-CHEAPER BY THE DOZEN.”

"This is an industry still in denial, that still doesn't recognize how highly Americans value their privacy, and hopes to ride out this scandal without Congress making the necessary changes," Markey said. "All I know is Mr. Smith and his company are the largest single contributors to a lobbying effort to block truly effective privacy laws being passed in Congress. That's all I need to know."

Both News.com's Declan McCullagh and Reuter's Andy Sullivan covered the hearing in a responsible manner.

Sullivan here, McCullagh here.

But really, you should listen yourself.

Here's a ten minute MP3 from the hearing.

Posted by Ryan Singel at March 15, 2005 12:25 PM

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