I hope you are so right in your excellent assessment. You are great at getting to the heart of it! :hi:
I wonder how many of the "thefts" listed below have received 'letters' from DHS and so remain silent on the actions of the gov? Could the gov force them to give the info to it under the guise of 'national/homeland security'? Probably am just blowing smoke out my ears.
I was indexing these data thefts when my computer crashed. Very interesting. Could this "stolen" data be tied to your basic crime?
It listed 93,000,000 when I checked it last, a couple of months ago; now it's up to 158,937,228 as of July 27th,2007.
snip>
What does the Chronology of Data Breaches contain?
The data breaches noted below have been reported because the personal information compromised includes data elements useful to identity thieves, such as Social Security numbers, account numbers, and driver's license numbers. Some breaches that do NOT expose such sensitive information have been included in order to underscore the variety and frequency of data breaches. However, we have not included the number of records involved in such breaches in the total because we want this compilation to reflect breaches that expose individuals to identity theft as well as breaches that qualify for disclosure under state laws. The breaches posted below include only those reported in the United States and does not include incidents in other countries.
What does the Total Number indicate?
The running total we maintain at the end of the Chronology represents the approximate number of *records* that have been compromised due to security breaches, not necessarily the number of *individuals* affected. Breaches for specific years are noted below -- 2005, 2006, and 2007. Some individuals may be the victims of more than one breach, which would affect the totals.
In reality, the number given below should be much larger. For many of the breaches listed, the number of records is unknown.Scroll away! Seriously long list:
http://www.privacyrights.org/ar/ChronDataBreaches.htmPretty astounding isn't it? And many of the "thefts" originated in health care facilities, colleges, government agencies, on and on and on. Seems to me that
any company with gov contracts or businesses involving highly personal info should have much better security and more financial responsibility when we get screwed due to their "errors".
The first major reported "theft" was from the extraordinarily 'adept' collector of OUR personal data:
ChoicePointIntroduction and Background
ChoicePoint is an Alpharetta, Georgia-based company that sells information in three markets--insurance, business and government, and marketing. According to a recent quarterly statement filed at the Security and Exchange Commission, ChoicePoint sells: "claims history data, motor vehicle records, police records, credit information and modeling services...employment background screenings and drug testing administration services, public record searches, vital record services, credential verification, due diligence information, Uniform Commercial Code searches and filings, DNA identification services, authentication services and people and shareholder locator information searches...print fulfillment, teleservices, database and campaign management services..."
ChoicePoint has managed to attain a large share of the commercial data broker (CDB) market with strategic purchases of other businesses. Since its spinoff from Equifax in 1997, ChoicePoint has acquired a number of information collection and processing companies. These include:
National Data Retrieval, Inc., a provider of public records information; List Source, Inc., d/b/a Kramer Lead Marketing Group, a marketing company in the life and health insurance and financial services markets; Mortgage Asset Research Institute, Inc., a mortgage fraud monitoring company; Identico Systems, LLC, a customer identity verification company; Templar Corporation; insuranceDecisions, Inc., an insurance industry claims administration company; Bridger Systems, Inc., a USA PATRIOT Act compliance company; CITI NETWORK, Inc. d/b/a Applicant Screening and Processing, a tenant screening company; TML Information Services, Inc., a provider of motor vehicle reports; Drug Free, Inc., a drug testing company; National Drug Testing, Inc., a drug testing company; Application Profiles, Inc., a background check company; Informus Corporation; a company enabling ChoicePoint to offer products online; Tyler-McLennon, Inc., a background screening company; ChoicePoint Direct Inc., formerly known as Customer Development Corporation, a database marketing company; EquiSearch Services, Inc.; DATEQ Information Network, Inc., an insurance underwriting services company; Washington Document Service, Inc., a court record retrieval service; DataTracks Technology, Inc., a public record information company; DataMart, Inc., a database software company; Statewide Data Services, Inc; NSA Resources, Inc., a drug testing company; DBT Online, Inc., a public record services provider; RRS Police Records Management, Inc., a provider of police reports and related services; VIS'N Service Corporation; Cat Data Group, LLC; Drug Free Consortium, a drug testing company; BTi Employee Screening Services, Inc., an employee pre-screening services company; ABI Consulting Inc., a drug screening company; Insurity Solutions, Inc., an insurance rating company; National Medical Review Offices, Inc.; Bode Technology Group, Inc., a DNA identification company; Marketing Information & Technology, Inc., a direct marketing company; Pinkerton's, Inc., a preemployment screening company; Total eData Corporation, an e-mail database company; L&S Report Service, Inc., a provider of police records; Resident Data, Inc., a residential screening services provider; Vital Chek Network, Inc., a provider of vital records; Accident Report Services, Inc., a provider of police records; Programming Resources Company, insurance software company; Professional Test Administrators, Inc., a drug testing company; CDB Infotek, a seller of public records; Medical Information Network, LLC, an online physician verification service; and Rapsheets.com, an online provider of criminal records data.
An April 13, 2001 article in the Wall Street Journal reported that profiling company
ChoicePoint provided personal information to at least thirty-five government agencies. EPIC has filed a series of Freedom of Information Act requests to determine the nature and amount of information sold to government. To date, EPIC has determined that ChoicePoint has several multi-million dollar contracts with law enforcement agencies to sell personal data.
snip>
ChoicePoint sells a wide array of information to the government, including:
* Credit headers, a list of identifying information that appears at the top of a credit report. This information includes name, spouse's name, address, previous address, phone number, Social Security number, and employer.
* "Workplace Solutions Pre-Employment Screening," which includes financial reports, education verification, reference verification, felony check, motor vehicle record, SSN verification, and professional credential verification.
* Asset Location Services.
* The ability to engage in "wildcard searches," which allows law enforcement to "obtain a comprehensive personal profile in a matter of minutes" with only a first name or partial address.
* The use of "Soundex" queries, which allow searches on personal information based on how names sound, rather than how they are spelled.
* Information on neighbors and family members of a suspect.Much, much more @ link:
http://www.epic.org/privacy/choicepoint/default.html Aren't there laws against monopolies?
April 13, 2001 was before 9/11 changed everything. Hmm...
And this is just lovely, too:
Spotlight on Surveillance
June 2007:
“National Network” of Fusion Centers Raises Specter of
COINTELPROEPIC’s “Spotlight on Surveillance” project scrutinizes federal government programs that affect individual privacy. For more information, see previous Spotlights on Surveillance. This month, Spotlight shines on
fusion centers, which have received $380 million in federal grants and millions more from state governments.<1> There are 43 current and planned fusion centers in the U.S., and some states have more than one.<2>
A “fusion center,” according to the Department of Justice, is
a “mechanism to exchange information and intelligence, maximize resources, streamline operations, and improve the ability to fight crime and terrorism by analyzing data from a variety of sources,” which includes private sector firms and anonymous tipsters.<3> When local and state fusion centers were first created, they were purely oriented toward counterterrorism, but, over time and with the escalating involvement of federal officials, fusion centers “have increasingly gravitated toward an all-crimes and even broader all-hazards approach.”<4>The expansion of fusion center goals and increasing interaction with federal and private sector entities leads to a massive accumulation of data, raising questions of possible misuse or abuse. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) seeks to create a “national network” of local and state fusion centers, tied into DHS’s “day-to-day activities.” This national network combined with the Department of Homeland Security’s plan to condition grant funding based on fusion center “compliance” with the federal agency’s priorities inculcates DHS with enormous domestic surveillance powers and evokes comparisons the publicly condemned domestic surveillance program COINTELPRO. http://www.epic.org/privacy/surveillance/spotlight/0607/I certainly hope this case didn't set very bad precedent. I've been considering something like PGP as my debit card was hacked last year. Now we could become criminals for protecting ourselves?! Well, since we already are criminals for 'news gathering', as per the PAII, in for a penny, in for a pound, I guess! :smoke::evilgrin:
Minnesota court takes dim view of encryption
By Declan McCullagh
Staff Writer, CNET News.com
Published: May 24, 2005, 3:02 PM PDT
A Minnesota appeals court has ruled that the presence of encryption software on a computer may be viewed as evidence of criminal intent.
Ari David Levie, who was convicted of taking illegal photographs of a nude 9-year-old girl, argued on appeal that the PGP encryption utility on his computer was irrelevant and should not have been admitted as evidence during his trial. PGP stands for Pretty Good Privacy and is sold by PGP Inc. of Palo Alto, Calif.
http://news.com.com/Minnesota+court+takes+dim+view+of+encryption/2100-1030_3-5718978.htmlIt seems as if I recall ChoicePoint involvement in something else. Tip of tongue.
We really, really need an exploding head smilie. :)
Oh, not to forget, hope you had a wonderful birthday!:hug: