ChoicePoint Settles with 43 States and DC Over Data Breach

As part of its settlement with 43 states and the District of Columbia, ChoicePoint, a leading skiptracing provider to the ARM industry, has agreed to implement more safeguards to adequately secure consumers’ personal information.

ChoicePoint suffered a breach of its database back in 2005, compromising the personal information of 163,000 people, according to the Federal Trade Commission.

ChoicePoint will adopt significantly stronger security measures, including written certification for access to consumer reports and onsite visits by ChoicePoint representatives to ensure the legitimacy of companies before they are allowed access to personally identifiable information.

"This step marks a historic first – the first time a data broker has agreed to safeguard certain sensitive publicly available information, including Social Security numbers, using the same credentialing methods as it uses to safeguard private financial information that is protected by law," Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said in a statement.