Who wants ChoicePoint CEO's home number?

[TKellarB]

I DETEST the fact that companies like ChoicePoint even exist!! I ran across this today while I was eating lunch and found it quite funny! For those interested:

Edit: The paper moved the link, so here is the info:

Derek Smith
15120 N Valleyfield Rd.
Alpharetta, GA 30004
(770-667-5775)

Sorry - perhaps I should charge for this info????

[A.P. Photography]

LOL, thats awesome.

[4dmin]

lol thats fucking great

[Kevykev]

ain't that somethin'

[chrisdavis]

That is unbeatable ownage
I love it

[Julio]

And then some of you wonder why you get in trouble sometimes... hnmmm..

funny nonetheless.

[TKellarB]

This was printed in the paper!!! I decided to repost it so everyone could send this guy a thank you note for collecting personal and sensitive financial information on individuals without their knowledge or consent and then selling it to the highest bidder.

[The Yousef]

This was printed in the paper!!! I decided to repost it so everyone could send this guy a thank you note for collecting personal and sensitive financial information on individuals without their knowledge or consent and then selling it to the highest bidder.

^God bless you...

[ahmonrah]

that was great i'm giving him a call now. i'm sick of these sales call popping up when i know i didnt apply for anything.

[TKellarB]

^^LOL at you since it was 4am!!!

I just recently had my credit card info stolen and someone went on a spending spree with phone cards and plane tix to London...so I am a little more sensitive to this sales crap now...and if anyone is going to profit off my identity, it will be me!!

[FrnkPwrs]

I think you have it mixed up on what choicepoint actually does. All the info that choicepoint gets comes directly from the person or from a company that the user volunteered their information to them. My ex has been working at choicepoint in Duluth for almost 5 years. Choicepoint was a victim, just like how you were with your credit card. BTW, companies like Choicepoint doesnt keep credit card info, your card was stolen based on your own irresponsibility.

[Casey]

I think you have it mixed up on what choicepoint actually does. All the info that choicepoint gets comes directly from the person or from a company that the user volunteered their information to them. My ex has been working at choicepoint in Duluth for almost 5 years. Choicepoint was a victim, just like how you were with your credit card. BTW, companies like Choicepoint doesnt keep credit card info, your card was stolen based on your own irresponsibility.

Ok sorry but Choicepoint is bullshit. Selling peoples personal information is complete crap. I'm sorry but I dont want someone being able to obtain SSN, credit info, phone numbers any of that with out my consent. Them a victim sure what ever, they sold the information they are liable for what they did. I hope that they go out of business and that shit wad spends a long time in jail.

[FrnkPwrs]

Does anyone even know why they compile info? Let me tell you this, if you think its so you can get advertisements in the mail its wrong. There are legitimate reasons for collecting data. Where do you think the background check you get when you apply for a job comes from? no, not the police department, companies like choicepoint. If any of you have worked in collections then you have heard of companies like Accurint, Choicepoint does the same thing! How do you htink Private Investigators locate people? Your credit info cant be obtained without permission, but other shit like your phone number and address is accessible through shit besides Choicepoint. Choicepoint doesnt make customers out of the average person.

All of the info is public domian! They collect info and sell A MEMBERSHIPTO ACCESS IT to legitimate businesses! If someone tricks them and acts like they are a legitimate company how are they not a victim? If I call your credit card company, act like Im you and say I want a duplicate card sent to my house, are you not a victim? Is the company not a victim? The most important thing if you dont want info sold to people for solicitation read what you sign. Most of the silly shit people sign up for like cars and timeshares at the displays at the mall are made for cellecting info for sales purposes. Choicepoint is not for that at all. Actually research the company instead of assuming what it does. I dont think anybody has actually researched what choicepoint does and thinks that its a company responsible for giving info to telemarketers. Selling info to criminals is not their line of business

[TKellarB]

Frank - my credit card number was stolen from some asshole who decided to steal it while processing a transaction. SORRY - that was not irresponsibility on my part!! And for the record, I didn't say that CP took my credit card info and passed it along to someone.

I am VERY aware of what CP does. And more importantly, what they don't do, such as have safeguards in place to thoroughly check out the outfits who are using the databases to access very private and sensitive information.

From the CP's website - Mission Page: What We Aspire to Do - We strive to create a safer and more secure society through the responsible use of information.
Oh - here is another good one: We will be a leader in the responsible use of information, to assure that we strike the proper balance between society's right to know and the individual's right to privacy.

What a fucking joke.

And then, let's look at the fabulous company management. The two top execs - Derek Smith and President Douglas Curling decided to dump almost $21M in shares. This was thirteen days after an arrest was made in the case and nearly 3 months before the victims were even notified or before this went public.

Your wife works for two really stand up guys!!!!

[99SI]

Irresponsibility may be the cause for some people but my dad had his identity stolen and he doesn't have a checking account, doesn't know how to turn a computer on much less get on the internet, and doesn't have a credit card. The people who got his identity had a drivers licence with his info and their picture, knew where he works, how much money he made, even had all the phone numbers and addresses, as well as his mothers maiden name. Most of the people who do that shit are pros at what they do.

[FrnkPwrs]

I am VERY aware of what CP does. And more importantly, what they don't do, such as have safeguards in place to thoroughly check out the outfits who are using the databases to access very private and sensitive information.

I really dont think you konw what they do. If they dont have any safeguards in place in place to thoroughly check potential clients, then sign up and get my info. Wait, since you know these things, can you explain to me the process of signing up with choice point and how easy it is to get info from them? I mean, you know they dont have any safeguards in place, correct?

From the CP's website - Mission Page: What We Aspire to Do - We strive to create a safer and more secure society through the responsible use of information.
Oh - here is another good one: We will be a leader in the responsible use of information, to assure that we strike the proper balance between society's right to know and the individual's right to privacy.

Do you know how long they've been in business? How many people they employ? This is one incident. One mistake made. You know how many companies have been hacked with client info? America Online has been hacked for customer names, addresses, and credit card numbers. How many of you use AIM or have AOL service? Do people boycott AOL based on that? Netcom was hacked before too. Believe it or not, back in the day there used to be this network called CBI that kept everyones info and it was a slutbox! Anyone who was decently into computer hacking in the late 80s/early 90s
has ran into a CBI dial up. SO what is your point? Because they got hit that they are assholes?

[TKellarB]

And this isn't the first time a mistake like this has been made, it is the LARGEST incident in CP's history!

And my stand on this issues: Anyone who makes a business out of collecting my personal information and selling my personal information to criminals are assholes. This is what they did - they sold information to criminals - it wasn't hacked.

[FrnkPwrs]

Question is, are they in the business of selling information to criminals?

Were they or were they not tricked into getting the info?

So what does getting upset at the company who was also a victim do?

[eurospeed]

I was offered a job at choicepoint but didn't take it. I have friends that work there. You people have no real understanding of what it is choicepoint does. They are not in the business of selling your information to marketers.

If you think that you're just retarded.

I also happen to know the CEO of CP, my parents live down the street from him and my sister is friends with his daughter.

Leave the poor guy alone he doesn't need you assclowns harassing him.

[TKellarB]

I echo these sentiments, from Scott Henry exactly:

"ChoicePoint - For showing little regard for the little people

If DuPont were to reveal it had "misplaced" several thousand tons of toxic waste, you'd expect more than an "oops," wouldn't you? If Raytheon Corp. announced it had accidentally handed a couple of warheads over to some guys in turbans, that'd be a big problem, right?

Same goes for ChoicePoint, which last week admitted it had sold personal information for 145,000 people across the country - names, addresses, credit reports and Social Security numbers - to identity thieves. About 2,800 of the victims are Georgians.

The Alpharetta-based data broker didn't admit it right away. When the news broke Feb. 15, the company initially tried to say the breach affected only a few hundred Californians. That's because California is the only state that requires potential victims to be notified; but for that law, ChoicePoint might have succeeded in covering up the fraud indefinitely, even though the company first learned of the problem in October.

Even with the advance notice, ChoicePoint CEO Derek Smith spent nearly a week dodging the press and refusing interviews, instead sending out PR flacks to explain how "sophisticated" and "extremely well organized" the thieves had been. As it turns out, ChoicePoint had sent reams of sensitive consumer info to guys who'd faxed them fake business licenses from Kinko's. So much for safeguards.

When Smith finally spoke up, it was through a press release whining that "no one, including us, is immune from ... fraud."

Sorry, Derek, but when you're dealing with the legal and financial records of nearly every man, woman and child in America - as ChoicePoint makes its business to do - such self-pitying platitudes are not good enough.

Responsible handling of such records is every bit as important a public safety issue as is the proper disposal of hazardous waste. If it turns out that ChoicePoint's gross negligence doesn't violate current law, the laws are clearly inadequate. It's encouraging that legislators in Georgia and around the country are already drafting laws that would help prevent - or at least provide reasonable notification of - a similar security breach.

If ever a company was asking to have the shit regulated out of it, it's ChoicePoint. "

[FrnkPwrs]

Do I give a fuck abotu what Scott Henry thinks?

[FrnkPwrs]

See, I talk from an angle that a lot of people dont see. My ex still works there. She isnt the smartest person in the world, but she transcribes data. So when people call in and talk about their car accidents and a rep doesnt answer, the ins company sends them the records to record. No harm there. Some companies use info like that. But she isnt working in the business of a company selling your personal info. Why are people acting like Choicepoint is this big negligant company? Shit happens to EVERYONE. IA was just hacked by some asshole. Do you blame paul or ryan [who I know for a fact are both EXTREMELY capable of running a pretty secure site, or the asshole that did it?

Ive also been on the other side. When I was 12 years old I was on Oprah for "Dangers On The Internet" and seen shit like this happen all day long, 7/24/365. How can you blame a company that was exploited? Where do you work at? If someone steals info from Experian or Equifax are you going to say those companies suck too?

[TKellarB]

Yes, you are right, it DOES happen. Sites are hacked and info is stolen.

In this case, the company did not practice due diligence. THEY SOLD THE INFORMATION TO CRIMINALS. And then the two top execs go and dump almost $21M in stock, knowing what happened and before it went public.

I hope the victims of the theft sue the hell out of the company and nothing is left but ashes.

I think you and I will just need to agree to disagree on this issue.

[FrnkPwrs]

Yea, we can agree to disagree. BUt my question is this. If youve got $21M in stock laying aroudn and you figure the media is going to make you look like an ass on TV by playing on the fears of people with identity theft and solicitation, what would you do? Realistically you would keep $21M in stock?