Democrats lambaste ChoicePoint data leak

By Declan McCullagh
Posted on ZDNet News: Mar 2, 2005 10:40:00 PM

ChoicePoint's recent privacy snafu has raised the hackles of some Democrats in Congress, who are demanding an investigation into the "terrorism risk" posed by information brokers. On Thursday, Sen. Bill Nelson of Florida and Rep. Bennie Thompson of Mississippi said they are planning to ask the Department of Homeland Security and the Government Accounting Office to look into how terrorists could use ChoicePoint and similar companies to sneak into the United States and maintain their cover.

Both Nelson and Thompson are the top Democrats on homeland security and terrorism panels. But Nelson seems to be wielding the threat of terrorism as a justification to target the newly embattled industry. He has already been talking about amending the Fair Credit Reporting Act in a way that could extend regulations to data brokers.