Choicepoint

=
<h2 style="font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; border: 0px; margin: 1em 0px 0.5em; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.25; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Exposing Those Responsible for the Attack Ads</h2>So who is really behind these grossly misleading attack ads? The AAN does not disclose the names of the companies and individuals bankrolling it, but its board includes <a href="http://www.factcheck.org/2010/08/american-action-network" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">big spenders</a> who have bankrolled many GOP campaigns. Some of these fat cats are affiliated with some of the wealthiest corporations in the country, like <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Goldman_Sachs" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Goldman Sachs</a>, <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Home_Depot" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Home Depot</a>, and <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/ChoicePoint" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">ChoicePoint</a>. This is big money in a race that already pits multi-millionaire Ron Johnson up against one of the <a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/pfds/overview.php?type=W&filter=S&sort=A&ptysort=A&year=2008" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">least wealthy U.S. Senators</a>, who does not have the deep pockets to finance his own race. Here is just a sample of the multimillionaire businessmen behind the attack ads and some of the companies they are affiliated with: <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Kenneth_G.Langone" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Kenneth G. Langone</a> He's worth $1 billion and is listed as <a href="http://www.forbes.com/lists/2006/54/biz_06rich400_Kenneth-G-Langone_OM4U.html" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">the 347th richest man</a> in the U.S. Here are some of the companies he has been affiliated with: Home Depot--Langone co-founded this home-remodeling store, one of the nation's largest retailers, whose top employees have given millions to the GOP and which, among other things, <a href="http://www.citizen.org/pressroom/pressroomredirect.cfm?ID=1600" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">got a $48 million tax break in the Bush/Cheney energy bill</a> (lifting a tariff on Chinese-made ceiling fans), and was also rewarded by Bush, who used the store as the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Public_relations" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">PR</a> backdrop for a speech about the economy. ChoicePoint--Langone co-founded this "'data-mining" company (mining your data to market to the government and businesses), which among other scandals was <a href="http://www.salon.com/news/politics/feature/2000/12/04/voter_file/print.html" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">embroiled in the 2000 election debacle in Florida</a> under a $4 million no-bid contract to give Florida Secretary of State <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Katherine_Harris" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Katherine Harris</a> a list of 8,000 names of people <a href="http://www.salon.com/news/politics/feature/2000/12/04/voter_file/print.html" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">to drop from the election rolls</a> who were supposedly felons, who turned out not to be. You probably recall that Harris declared Bush the winner of Florida by 1,784 votes and five <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/right-wing" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">right-wing</a> judges on the Supreme Court stopped the recount, making Bush president--so a couple thousand voters turned away could have been the difference, even without the flawed butterfly ballot that added up for Pat Buchanan. You may not recall how ChoicePoint contributed to the election of Bush through its faulty list. And you might not have known that ChoicePoint executives like Langone and (now deceased) Rik Rozar gave hundreds of thousands to the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/GOP" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">GOP</a>. (I have testified in favor of Senator Feingold's efforts to <a href="http://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:MOKJX4xSCm0J:judiciary.senate.gov/pdf/09-09-23%2520Graves%2520Testimony.pdf+Senator+Feingold+and+Choicepoint&hl=en&gl=us&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESh0Vqnt6Bn8aXmG6itpSmhAoz11muT9xeeTKACs5SEolXZgtD0FF4rYhkkouTaSng_m6p2jxID-l_u-Kz1X_6CZc9jvV9NA2Yt5WVbzDBz5lpK7Z56uJDuQF1bLInMRQeVhc4mD&sig=AHIEtbTtL3YwOrHIoDY_OH4EvttKSIAavA" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">protect Americans from unwarranted data-mining</a> by the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/FBI" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">FBI</a>through National Security Letters and I have flagged the FBI's lucrative contracts with ChoicePoint.) <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/C.Boyden_Gray" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">C. Boyden Gray</a>, heir to the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/R.J.Reynolds" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">R.J. Reynolds</a> Tobacco Company fortune. Boyden has played a key role in most of the well-financed right-wing groups like <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Citizens_for_a_Sound_Economy" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Citizens for a Sound Economy</a>, founded by the <a href="http://www.prwatch.org/node/9396" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Koch Brothers</a> and related to the beltway gang behind the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Tax_Day_Tea_Party" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Tea Party</a>, <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/FreedomWorks" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">FreedomWorks</a>. Gray has helped orchestrate everything from <a href="http://old.mediatransparency.org/story.php?storyID=15" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">the big business attack on the EPA's regulation of air quality standards</a> to the effort to pack the courts with right-wing ideologues through his attack machine, the "<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Committee_for_Justice" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Committee for Justice</a>." When I worked as a staffer in the Senate, I helped fight Gray's efforts to use smear campaigns to pack the courts; and Gray's group was one of the recipients of files of mine and my colleagues taken by Republican political operatives. If you're disgusted with the Supreme Court decisions of right-wing ideologues like <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/John_Roberts" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">John Roberts</a> and <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Clarence_Thomas" target="_blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Clarence Thomas</a>, you can thank Gray for helping them secure lifetime jobs as judges.<div>

<a href="http://www.salon.com/2000/12/04/voter_file/">http://www.salon.com/2000/12/04/voter_file/</a>

                                <span class="toLocalTime" data-tlt-epoch-time="975946740">Monday, Dec  4, 2000&nbsp;</span></span></font><h1>
                                <font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Florida’s flawed “voter-cleansing” program                            </font></h1>

             <h2><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
                                Secretary of State Katherine Harris

hired a firm to vet the rolls for felons, but that may have wrongly kept

thousands, particularly blacks, from casting ballots.

          </font></h2><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">If Vice President Al Gore is wondering where his Florida votes went,

rather than sift through a pile of chad, he might want to look at a

“scrub list” of 173,000 names targeted to be knocked off the Florida

voter registry by a division of the office of Florida Secretary of State

Katherine Harris. A close examination suggests thousands of voters may

have lost their right to vote based on a flaw-ridden list that included

purported “felons” provided by a private firm with tight Republican

ties.

Early in the year, the company, ChoicePoint, gave Florida officials a

list with the names of 8,000 ex-felons to “scrub” from their list of

voters. But it turns out none on the list were guilty of felonies, only

misdemeanors. The company acknowledged the error, and blamed it on the

original source of the list — the state of Texas. Florida

officials moved to put those falsely accused by Texas back on voter

rolls before the election. Nevertheless, the large number of errors

uncovered in individual counties suggests that thousands of eligible

voters may have been turned away at the polls. Florida is the

only state that pays a private company that promises to “cleanse” voter

rolls.The state signed in 1998 a $4 million contract with DBT Online,

since merged into ChoicePoint, of Atlanta. The creation of the scrub

list, called the central voter file, was mandated by a 1998 state voter

fraud law, which followed a tumultuous year that saw Miami’s mayor

removed after voter fraud in the election, with dead people discovered

to have cast ballots. The voter fraud law required all 67 counties to

purge voter registries of duplicate registrations, deceased voters and

felons, many of whom, but not all, are barred from voting in Florida. In

the process, however, the list invariably targets a minority population

in Florida, where 31 percent of all black men cannot vote because of a

ban on felons. In compiling a list by looking at felons from other

states, Florida could, in the process, single out citizens who committed

felons in other states but, after serving their time or successfully

petitioning the courts, had their voting rights returned to them.

According to Florida law, felons can vote once their voting rights have

been reinstated. And if this unfairly singled out minorities, it

unfairly handicapped Gore: In Florida, 93 percent of African-Americans

voted for the vice president....

             <font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><span class="byline"><a href="http://www.salon.com/writer/gregory_palast/" rel="author" class="gaTrackLinkEvent" data-ga-track-json="[">Gregory Palast</a></span><br /><br /></font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">==</font></div><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">==<br /></font><br/>

<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=ChoicePoint">http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=ChoicePoint</a>

ChoicePoint, a corporation based near Atlanta, Georgia, USA, which claims to be the "nation's leading supplier of identification and credential verification services," is the company whose DBT subsidiary spoiled the electoral roll in Florida enabling <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/George_W._Bush" title="George W. Bush" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;">George W. Bush</a> to "win" the 2000 presidential election.<a rel="nofollow" class="external autonumber" href="http://www.counterpunch.org/solo10012003.html" style="text-decoration: none; padding-right: 13px; background: url("data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAYAAACNMs+9AAAAVElEQVR42n3PgQkAIAhEUXdqJ3dqJ3e6IoTPUSQcgj4EQ5IlUiLE0Jil3PECXhcHGBhZ8kg4hwxAu3MZeCGeyFnAXp4hqNQPnt7QL0nADpD6wHccLvnAKksq8iiaAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC") 100% 50% no-repeat;">[1]</a>

<h2 style="font-weight: bold; margin: 0px 0px 0.6em; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; border: none; display: inline; background: none;">Contents</h2>

[<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=ChoicePoint#" class="internal" id="togglelink" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;">hide</a>] </div>

<li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-1" style=" margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=ChoicePoint#Profiles" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;">1 Profiles</a></li>

<li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-2" style=" margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=ChoicePoint#Overview" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;">2 Overview</a></li>

<li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-3" style=" margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=ChoicePoint#Florida_Voter_File_Contract" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;">3 Florida Voter File Contract</a></li>

<li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-4" style=" margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=ChoicePoint#Criticism_Regarding_the_Florida_Voter_File" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;">4 Criticism Regarding the Florida Voter File</a></li>

<li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-5" style=" margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=ChoicePoint#DBT_Online" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;">5 DBT Online</a></li>

<li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-6" style=" margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=ChoicePoint#Personnel" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;">6 Personnel</a></li>

<li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-7" style=" margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=ChoicePoint#Quotes" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;">7 Quotes</a></li>

<li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-8" style=" margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=ChoicePoint#Contact_details" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;">8 Contact details</a></li>

<li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-9" style=" margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=ChoicePoint#Resources" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;">9 Resources</a>

<li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-10" style=" margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=ChoicePoint#Related_SourceWatch_articles" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;">9.1 Related SourceWatch articles</a></li>

<li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-11" style=" margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=ChoicePoint#References" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;">9.2 References</a></li>

<li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-12" style=" margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=ChoicePoint#Websites" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;">9.3 Websites</a></li>

<li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-13" style=" margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=ChoicePoint#Articles_.26_Commentary" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;">9.4 Articles & Commentary</a></li>

</ul>

</li>

</ul>

</div>

<h2 style="font-weight: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0.6em; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0.17em; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); background: none;">Profiles</h2>

"ChoicePoint, used by financial services groups and every government law enforcement agency, aggregates information from publicly available records -- including telephone directories, bankruptcy filings, business license registrations and court filings -- to create comprehensive reports on individuals." <a rel="nofollow" class="external autonumber" href="http://www.wired.com/news/privacy/0,1848,57354,00.html" style="text-decoration: none; padding-right: 13px; background: url("data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAYAAACNMs+9AAAAVElEQVR42n3PgQkAIAhEUXdqJ3dqJ3e6IoTPUSQcgj4EQ5IlUiLE0Jil3PECXhcHGBhZ8kg4hwxAu3MZeCGeyFnAXp4hqNQPnt7QL0nADpD6wHccLvnAKksq8iiaAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC") 100% 50% no-repeat;">[2]</a>

"Choicepoint, a <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Data_aggregator&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Data aggregator (page does not exist)" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;">data aggregator</a> in Georgia that sells millions of dossiers on private citizens to both the government and private business.

"The information bundled by Choicepoint and its competitors is gleaned from public and proprietary sources and includes everything from driving records to criminal histories. The data is used for background checks, fraud investigations, insurance applications and to locate criminal suspects." <a rel="nofollow" class="external autonumber" href="http://www.wired.com/news/privacy/0,1848,43743,00.html" style="text-decoration: none; padding-right: 13px; background: url("data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAYAAACNMs+9AAAAVElEQVR42n3PgQkAIAhEUXdqJ3dqJ3e6IoTPUSQcgj4EQ5IlUiLE0Jil3PECXhcHGBhZ8kg4hwxAu3MZeCGeyFnAXp4hqNQPnt7QL0nADpD6wHccLvnAKksq8iiaAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC") 100% 50% no-repeat;">[3]</a>

<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Anne_Wexler" title="Anne Wexler" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;">Anne Wexler</a> of <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Wexler_and_Walker_Public_Policy_Associates" title="Wexler and Walker Public Policy Associates" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;">Wexler and Walker Public Policy Associates</a> is the registered US Senate lobbyist for Choicepoint. According to the US Senate Office of Public Records, Wexler was paid approximately $40,000 for the six month period to June 30, 2003. <a rel="nofollow" class="external autonumber" href="http://www.sopr.senate.gov/" style="text-decoration: none; padding-right: 13px; background: url("data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAYAAACNMs+9AAAAVElEQVR42n3PgQkAIAhEUXdqJ3dqJ3e6IoTPUSQcgj4EQ5IlUiLE0Jil3PECXhcHGBhZ8kg4hwxAu3MZeCGeyFnAXp4hqNQPnt7QL0nADpD6wHccLvnAKksq8iiaAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC") 100% 50% no-repeat;">[4]</a>

<h2 style="font-weight: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0.6em; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0.17em; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); background: none;">Overview</h2>

ChoicePoint has a DNA laboratory which was used to identify victims of the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=World_Trade_Center&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="World Trade Center (page does not exist)" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;">World Trade Center</a> attacks. Data supplied by ChoicePoint was used in the Beltway Snipers investigation. Choicepoint also assisted the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Transportation_Security_Administration" title="Transportation Security Administration" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;">Transportation Security Administration</a> in conduction ~100,000 applicants. The US <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Department_of_Justice" title="Department of Justice" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;">Department of Justice</a> and the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=National_Center_for_Missing_and_Exploited_Children&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (page does not exist)" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;">National Center for Missing and Exploited Children</a> credit the corporation with assisting in the return of ~800 missing children. As of 2003, ChoicePoint's CEO is Derek V. Smith, who has held that position since 1997. In 2002, ChoicePoint generated earnings of ~$200 million on revenue of ~$791 million. The company employs ~3,500 people at 52 locations within 26 states.

<h2 style="font-weight: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0.6em; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0.17em; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); background: none;">Florida Voter File Contract</h2>

In 1998, the state of Florida signed a $4 million contract with Database Technologies (DBT Online), which later merged into ChoicePoint, for the purposes of providing a central voter file listing those barred from voting. As of 2002, Florida is the only state which hires a private firm for these purposes. Prior to contracting with Database Technologies, Florida contracted with a smaller operator for $5,700 per year. The state of Florida contracted with DBT in November 1998, following the controversial Miami mayoral race of 1997. The 1998 contracting process involved no bidding and was worth $2,317,800.

<h2 style="font-weight: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0.6em; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0.17em; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); background: none;">Criticism Regarding the Florida Voter File</h2>

ChoicePoint has been criticized, by many critics of the 2000 election, for having a bias in favor of the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Republican_Party" title="Republican Party" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;">Republican Party</a>, for knowingly using inaccurate data, and for<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Racial_discrimination&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Racial discrimination (page does not exist)" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;">racial discrimination</a>. Allegations include listing voters as felons for alleged crimes said to have been committed several years in the future. In addition, people who had been convicted of a felony in a different state and had their rights restored by said state, were not allowed to vote despite the restoration of their rights. (One should note Schlenther v. Florida Department of State (June 1998) which ruled that Florida could not prevent a man convicted of a felony in Connecticut, where his civil rights had not been lost, from exercising his <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Civil_rights" title="Civil rights" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;">civil rights</a>.) Furthermore, it is argued that people were listed as felons based on a coincidence of names, despite other data (such as date of birth) which showed that the criminal record did not apply to the voter in question.

Journalist <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Greg_Palast" title="Greg Palast" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;">Greg Palast</a> has argued that the firm cooperated with Florida Governor <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Jeb_Bush" title="Jeb Bush" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;">Jeb Bush</a>, Florida Secretary of State <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Katherine_Harris" title="Katherine Harris" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;">Katherine Harris</a>, and Florida Elections Unit Chief Clay Roberts, in a conspiracy of <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Voter_fraud" title="Voter fraud" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;">voter fraud</a>, involving the central voter file, during the US Presidential Election of 2000. The allegations charge that 57,700 people (15% of the list), primarily Democrats of African-American and Hispanic descent, were incorrectly listed as felons and thus barred from voting. Palast estimates that 80% of these people would have voted, and that 90% of those who would have voted, would have voted for <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Al_Gore" title="Al Gore" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;">Al Gore</a>. The official (and disputed) margin of victory, in the election, was 537 votes.

ChoicePoint Vice President Martin Fagan has admitted that at least 8,000 names were incorrectly listed in this fashion when the company passed on a list given by the state of Texas, these 8,000 names were removed prior to the election. Fagan has described the error as a "minor glitch". ChoicePoint, as a matter of policy, does not verify the accuracy of its data and argues that it is the user's responsibility to verify accuracy.

On April 17, 2000, at a special Congressional hearing in Atlanta, ChoicePoint Vice-President James Lee testified that Florida had ordered DBT to add to the list voters who matched 80% of an ineligible voter's name; middle initials and suffixes were to be dropped, while nicknames and aliases were added. In addition, names were considered reversible, for example; Clarence Thomas could be added in place of Thomas Clarence. Lee opened his testimony by noting that ChoicePoint intended to get out of the voter purge industry. Then, on February 16, 2001, DBT Senior Vice-President George Bruder testified before the US Civil Rights Commission that the company had misinformed the Florida Supervisors of Elections regarding the usage of race in compiling the list. Greg Palast concludes, "An African-American felon named John Doe might wipe out the registration of an innocent African-American Will Whiting, but not the rights of an innocent Caucasian Will Whiting." Palast believes that 80%, of the 57,700 people he argues were illegally barred from voting, were African-American.

In January 2000, Pennsylvania terminated its contract with ChoicePoint after alleging that the firm had illegally sold citizens' personal information.

<h2 style="font-weight: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0.6em; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0.17em; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); background: none;">DBT Online</h2>

<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=DBT_Online&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="DBT Online (page does not exist)" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;">DBT Online</a> was founded by <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Hank_Asher" title="Hank Asher" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;">Hank Asher</a> as Database Technologies. The group once had a data management contract with the FBI, however, this was terminated following allegations that Asher was associated with Bahamian drug dealers. (1 p.18)

<h2 style="font-weight: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0.6em; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0.17em; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); background: none;">Personnel</h2>

Executives and 2006 pay:

<li style=" margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Kenneth_G_Langone" title="Kenneth G Langone" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;">Kenneth G Langone</a></li>

<li style=" margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Derek_V._Smith&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Derek V. Smith (page does not exist)" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;">Derek V. Smith</a>, CEO/Chairman of the Board, $4,964,409 (also exercised $13,976,401 in options)<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=ChoicePoint#cite_note-1" style="text-decoration: none; white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[1]</a></li>

<li style=" margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Douglas_C._Curling&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Douglas C. Curling (page does not exist)" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;">Douglas C. Curling</a>, Chief Operationg Officer, $2,422,138 (also exercised $2,060,578 in options)<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=ChoicePoint#cite_note-2" style="text-decoration: none; white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[2]</a></li>

<li style=" margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=David_T._Lee&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="David T. Lee (page does not exist)" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;">David T. Lee</a>, Executive Vice President, $1,721,664 (also exercised $520,855 in options)<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=ChoicePoint#cite_note-3" style="text-decoration: none; white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[3]</a></li>

</ul>

<h2 style="font-weight: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0.6em; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0.17em; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); background: none;">Quotes</h2>

<li style=" margin-bottom: 0.1em;">Vice-President <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Martin_L._Fagan&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Martin L. Fagan (page does not exist)" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;">Martin L. Fagan</a>: "Given the outcome of our work in Florida and with a new president in place, we think our services will expand across the country."</li>

</ul>

<h2 style="font-weight: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0.6em; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0.17em; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); background: none;">Contact details</h2>

1000 Alderman Drive

Alpharetta, GA 30005

United States

Phone: 770-752-6000

Fax: 770-752-6005

Web: <a rel="nofollow" class="external free" href="http://www.choicepointinc.com/" style="text-decoration: none; padding-right: 13px; background: url("data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAYAAACNMs+9AAAAVElEQVR42n3PgQkAIAhEUXdqJ3dqJ3e6IoTPUSQcgj4EQ5IlUiLE0Jil3PECXhcHGBhZ8kg4hwxAu3MZeCGeyFnAXp4hqNQPnt7QL0nADpD6wHccLvnAKksq8iiaAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC") 100% 50% no-repeat;">http://www.choicepointinc.com</a>

<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.choicepointonline.com/cdb/" style="text-decoration: none; padding-right: 13px; background: url("data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAYAAACNMs+9AAAAVElEQVR42n3PgQkAIAhEUXdqJ3dqJ3e6IoTPUSQcgj4EQ5IlUiLE0Jil3PECXhcHGBhZ8kg4hwxAu3MZeCGeyFnAXp4hqNQPnt7QL0nADpD6wHccLvnAKksq8iiaAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC") 100% 50% no-repeat;">Search Billions of Records from Your Desktop Computer</a>, ChoicePoint.

<h2 style="font-weight: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0.6em; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0.17em; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); background: none;">Resources</h2>

<h3 style="font-weight: bold; margin: 0px 0px 0.3em; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0.17em; border-bottom-style: none; background: none;">Related SourceWatch articles</h3>

<li style=" margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Ashcroft_Group" title="Ashcroft Group" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;">Ashcroft Group</a></li>

<li style=" margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Computer_Assisted_Passenger_PreScreening_System_II" title="Computer Assisted Passenger PreScreening System II" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;">Computer Assisted Passenger PreScreening System II</a> (CAPPS II)</li>

<li style=" margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Data_mining" title="Data mining" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;">data mining</a></li>

<li style=" margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Diebold" title="Diebold" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;">Diebold</a></li>

<li style=" margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Florida_2000_debacle" title="Florida 2000 debacle" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;">Florida 2000 debacle</a></li>

<li style=" margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Genetic_surveillance" title="Genetic surveillance" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;">genetic surveillance</a></li>

<li style=" margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/George_W._Bush%27s_domestic_spying" title="George W. Bush's domestic spying" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;">George W. Bush's domestic spying</a></li>

<li style=" margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/George_W._Bush%27s_phone_records_spying" title="George W. Bush's phone records spying" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;">George W. Bush's phone records spying</a></li>

<li style=" margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Internet_surveillance" title="Internet surveillance" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;">internet surveillance</a></li>

<li style=" margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/U.S._election_irregularities_in_2000" title="U.S. election irregularities in 2000" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;">U.S. election irregularities in 2000</a></li>

</ul>

<h3 style="font-weight: bold; margin: 0px 0px 0.3em; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0.17em; border-bottom-style: none; background: none;">References</h3>

<li id="cite_note-1" style=" margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=ChoicePoint#cite_ref-1" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;"><span class="cite-accessibility-label" style=" top: -99999px; clip: rect(1px 1px 1px 1px); overflow: hidden; position: absolute !important; padding: 0px !important; border: 0px !important; height: 1px !important; width: 1px !important;">Jump up↑</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.forbes.com/finance/mktguideapps/personinfo/FromPersonIdPersonTearsheet.jhtml?passedPersonId=927784" style="text-decoration: none; padding-right: 13px; background: url("data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAYAAACNMs+9AAAAVElEQVR42n3PgQkAIAhEUXdqJ3dqJ3e6IoTPUSQcgj4EQ5IlUiLE0Jil3PECXhcHGBhZ8kg4hwxAu3MZeCGeyFnAXp4hqNQPnt7QL0nADpD6wHccLvnAKksq8iiaAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC") 100% 50% no-repeat;">Derek V Smith</a>, Forbes, accessed February 2008.</li>

<li id="cite_note-2" style=" margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=ChoicePoint#cite_ref-2" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;"><span class="cite-accessibility-label" style=" top: -99999px; clip: rect(1px 1px 1px 1px); overflow: hidden; position: absolute !important; padding: 0px !important; border: 0px !important; height: 1px !important; width: 1px !important;">Jump up↑</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.forbes.com/finance/mktguideapps/personinfo/FromPersonIdPersonTearsheet.jhtml?passedPersonId=922755" style="text-decoration: none; padding-right: 13px; background: url("data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAYAAACNMs+9AAAAVElEQVR42n3PgQkAIAhEUXdqJ3dqJ3e6IoTPUSQcgj4EQ5IlUiLE0Jil3PECXhcHGBhZ8kg4hwxAu3MZeCGeyFnAXp4hqNQPnt7QL0nADpD6wHccLvnAKksq8iiaAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC") 100% 50% no-repeat;">Douglas C Curling</a>, Forbes, accessed February 2008.</li>

<li id="cite_note-3" style=" margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=ChoicePoint#cite_ref-3" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;"><span class="cite-accessibility-label" style=" top: -99999px; clip: rect(1px 1px 1px 1px); overflow: hidden; position: absolute !important; padding: 0px !important; border: 0px !important; height: 1px !important; width: 1px !important;">Jump up↑</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.forbes.com/finance/mktguideapps/personinfo/FromPersonIdPersonTearsheet.jhtml?passedPersonId=920798" style="text-decoration: none; padding-right: 13px; background: url("data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAYAAACNMs+9AAAAVElEQVR42n3PgQkAIAhEUXdqJ3dqJ3e6IoTPUSQcgj4EQ5IlUiLE0Jil3PECXhcHGBhZ8kg4hwxAu3MZeCGeyFnAXp4hqNQPnt7QL0nADpD6wHccLvnAKksq8iiaAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC") 100% 50% no-repeat;">David T Lee</a>, Forbes, accessed February 2008.</li>

</ol>

<h3 style="font-weight: bold; margin: 0px 0px 0.3em; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0.17em; border-bottom-style: none; background: none;">Websites</h3>

<li style=" margin-bottom: 0.1em;">DBTOnline.Com (<a rel="nofollow" class="external free" href="http://www.dbtonline.com/" style="text-decoration: none; padding-right: 13px; background: url("data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAYAAACNMs+9AAAAVElEQVR42n3PgQkAIAhEUXdqJ3dqJ3e6IoTPUSQcgj4EQ5IlUiLE0Jil3PECXhcHGBhZ8kg4hwxAu3MZeCGeyFnAXp4hqNQPnt7QL0nADpD6wHccLvnAKksq8iiaAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC") 100% 50% no-repeat;">http://www.dbtonline.com/</a>) (Official)</li>

</ul>

<h3 style="font-weight: bold; margin: 0px 0px 0.3em; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0.17em; border-bottom-style: none; background: none;">Articles & Commentary</h3>

<li style=" margin-bottom: 0.1em;">Greg Palast, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.gregpalast.com/detail.cfm?artid=15&row=1" style="text-decoration: none; padding-right: 13px; background: url("data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAYAAACNMs+9AAAAVElEQVR42n3PgQkAIAhEUXdqJ3dqJ3e6IoTPUSQcgj4EQ5IlUiLE0Jil3PECXhcHGBhZ8kg4hwxAu3MZeCGeyFnAXp4hqNQPnt7QL0nADpD6wHccLvnAKksq8iiaAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC") 100% 50% no-repeat;">"Bush family finances: Best democracy money can buy,"</a> The London Observer (gregpalast.com), November 26, 2000.</li>

<li style=" margin-bottom: 0.1em;">Greg Palast, The Best Democracy Money Can Buy: The Best Democracy Money Can Buy: The Truth About Corporate Cons, Globalization and High-Finance Fraudsters, Plume (2002); Revised American edition (February 25, 2003), <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Special:BookSources/0452283914" class="internal mw-magiclink-isbn" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;">ISBN 0452283914</a>.</li>

<li style=" margin-bottom: 0.1em;">United States Senate Office of Public Records, "<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.sopr.senate.gov/cgi-win/opr_viewer.exe?20034WEXLER,$ANNE$L.LOB₀" style="text-decoration: none; padding-right: 13px; background: url("data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAYAAACNMs+9AAAAVElEQVR42n3PgQkAIAhEUXdqJ3dqJ3e6IoTPUSQcgj4EQ5IlUiLE0Jil3PECXhcHGBhZ8kg4hwxAu3MZeCGeyFnAXp4hqNQPnt7QL0nADpD6wHccLvnAKksq8iiaAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC") 100% 50% no-repeat;">Anne Wexler</a>", accessed February 16, 2004.</li>

<li style=" margin-bottom: 0.1em;">Greg Palast, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.inthesetimes.com/site/main/article/fear_for_sale/" style="text-decoration: none; padding-right: 13px; background: url("data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAYAAACNMs+9AAAAVElEQVR42n3PgQkAIAhEUXdqJ3dqJ3e6IoTPUSQcgj4EQ5IlUiLE0Jil3PECXhcHGBhZ8kg4hwxAu3MZeCGeyFnAXp4hqNQPnt7QL0nADpD6wHccLvnAKksq8iiaAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC") 100% 50% no-repeat;">"Fear for Sale,"</a> In These Times, May 12, 2004.</li>

<li style=" margin-bottom: 0.1em;">Robert O'Harrow, Jr., "<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A30897-2005Feb16" style="text-decoration: none; padding-right: 13px; background: url("data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAYAAACNMs+9AAAAVElEQVR42n3PgQkAIAhEUXdqJ3dqJ3e6IoTPUSQcgj4EQ5IlUiLE0Jil3PECXhcHGBhZ8kg4hwxAu3MZeCGeyFnAXp4hqNQPnt7QL0nADpD6wHccLvnAKksq8iiaAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC") 100% 50% no-repeat;">ID Data Conned From Firm</a>," Washington Post, February 17, 2005.</li>

<li style=" margin-bottom: 0.1em;">Greg Palast, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.buzzflash.com/contributors/06/05/con06189.html" style="text-decoration: none; padding-right: 13px; background: url("data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAYAAACNMs+9AAAAVElEQVR42n3PgQkAIAhEUXdqJ3dqJ3e6IoTPUSQcgj4EQ5IlUiLE0Jil3PECXhcHGBhZ8kg4hwxAu3MZeCGeyFnAXp4hqNQPnt7QL0nADpD6wHccLvnAKksq8iiaAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC") 100% 50% no-repeat;">"The Spies Who Shag Us. The Times and USA Today have Missed the Bigger Story -- Again,"</a> BuzzFlash, May 12, 2006.</li>

<li style=" margin-bottom: 0.1em;">Nicholas Wade, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/12/science/12dna.html?_r=1&hp&ex=1147406400&en=94180773b20cc832&ei=5094&partner=homepage&oref=slogin" style="text-decoration: none; padding-right: 13px; background: url("data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAYAAACNMs+9AAAAVElEQVR42n3PgQkAIAhEUXdqJ3dqJ3e6IoTPUSQcgj4EQ5IlUiLE0Jil3PECXhcHGBhZ8kg4hwxAu3MZeCGeyFnAXp4hqNQPnt7QL0nADpD6wHccLvnAKksq8iiaAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC") 100% 50% no-repeat;">"Wider Use of DNA Lists Is Urged in Fighting Crime,"</a> New York Times, May 12, 2006.</li>

</ul>

</div>

<div id="mw-normal-catlinks" class="mw-normal-catlinks"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Special:Categories" title="Special:Categories" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;">Categories</a>:

<li style=" margin: 0.125em 0px; display: inline-block; line-height: 1.25em; border-left-style: none; padding: 0px 0.5em 0px 0.25em; zoom: 1;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Category:Corporations" title="Category:Corporations" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;">Corporations</a></li>

<li style=" margin: 0.125em 0px; display: inline-block; line-height: 1.25em; border-left-width: 1px; border-left-style: solid; border-left-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0px 0.5em; zoom: 1;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Category:Elections_(U.S.)" title="Category:Elections (U.S.)" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;">Elections (U.S.)</a></li>

<li style=" margin: 0.125em 0px; display: inline-block; line-height: 1.25em; border-left-width: 1px; border-left-style: solid; border-left-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0px 0.5em; zoom: 1;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Category:United_States" title="Category:United States" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;">United States</a></li>

<li style=" margin: 0.125em 0px; display: inline-block; line-height: 1.25em; border-left-width: 1px; border-left-style: solid; border-left-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0px 0.5em; zoom: 1;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Category:Civil_liberties_(U.S.)" title="Category:Civil liberties (U.S.)" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;">Civil liberties (U.S.)</a></li>

</ul>

</div>

===

lisa g

A new right-wing group, "<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/American_Action_Network" target="blank" style=" border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">American Action Network</a>," has entered the 2010 election with <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=52p-PrI5a7U" target="blank" style=" border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">ads</a> attacking Senator<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Russell_Feingold" target="blank" style=" border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">Russell Feingold</a> of Wisconsin. The American Action Network (AAN) was created by right-wing politicians and their funders around the time the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Supreme_Court" target="blank" style=" border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">Supreme Court</a> issued the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Citizens_United" target="blank" style=" border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">Citizens United</a> decision that expanded <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/corporate_rights" target="blank" style=" border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">corporate rights</a> to allow them to spend more money than ever influencing elections. AAN does not disclose its funding sources for the <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/06/02/AR2010060204451.html" target="blank" style=" border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">$25 million it plans to spend this fall</a>, but its board is <a href="http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/02/american_action_network_who_is_putting_up_the_mone.php" target="blank" style=" border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">filled with politicians and millionaire businessmen on the right</a>.

The ad is grossly misleading and blames Senator Feingold for the federal deficit, with the tag line "<a href="http://www.cantaffordfeingold.com/" target="blank" style=" border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">18 years, 9 trillion more in debt</a>." The ad ignores the budget surplus created in the Clinton Administration during Senator Feingold's first terms in the Senate, and the squandering of that surplus through President <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/George_W.Bush" target="blank" style=" border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">George W. Bush</a>'s economic policies and wars. And then it tries to blame Feingold for the deficit increases through the Wall Street bailout that was led by President Bush and his Treasury Secretary, <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Henry_Paulson" target="blank" style=" border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">Henry Paulson</a>, even though Senator Feingold voted consistently, not <a href="http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=111&session=1&vote=00134" target="blank" style=" border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">once</a> but <a href="http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=111&session=1&vote=00005" target="blank" style=" border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">twice</a>, against the Wall Street bailout and voted not <a href="http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=111&session=1&vote=00134" target="blank" style=" border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">once</a> but <a href="http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=111&session=2&vote=00002" target="blank" style=" border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">twice</a> to end the TARP. He also pressed Congress expressly to use the TARP funds to <a href="http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=111&session=2&vote=00002" target="blank" style=" border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">pay down the deficit</a>. (For more information on the true cost of the Wall Street Bailout check out our <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Total_Wall_Street_Bailout_Cost" target="blank" style=" border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">Wall Street Bailout Cost Table</a>.)

<h2 style="border: 0px; margin: 1em 0px 0.5em; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.25; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Exposing Those Responsible for the Attack Ads</h2>

<p style="border: 0px; margin: 1em 0px; padding: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19.2px; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">So who is really behind these grossly misleading attack ads? The AAN does not disclose the names of the companies and individuals bankrolling it, but its board includes <a href="http://www.factcheck.org/2010/08/american-action-network" target="blank" style=" border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">big spenders</a> who have bankrolled many GOP campaigns. Some of these fat cats are affiliated with some of the wealthiest corporations in the country, like<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Goldman_Sachs" target="blank" style=" border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">Goldman Sachs</a>, <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Home_Depot" target="blank" style=" border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">Home Depot</a>, and <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/ChoicePoint" target="blank" style=" border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">ChoicePoint</a>. This is big money in a race that already pits multi-millionaire Ron Johnson up against one of the <a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/pfds/overview.php?type=W&filter=S&sort=A&ptysort=A&year=2008" target="_blank" style=" border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">least wealthy U.S. Senators</a>, who does not have the deep pockets to finance his own race. Here is just a sample of the multimillionaire businessmen behind the attack ads and some of the companies they are affiliated with:

Home Depot--Langone co-founded this home-remodeling store, one of the nation's largest retailers, whose top employees have given millions to the GOP and which, among other things, <a href="http://www.citizen.org/pressroom/pressroomredirect.cfm?ID=1600" target="blank" style=" border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">got a $48 million tax break in the Bush/Cheney energy bill</a> (lifting a tariff on Chinese-made ceiling fans), and was also rewarded by Bush, who used the store as the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Public_relations" target="blank" style=" border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">PR</a> backdrop for a speech about the economy.

ChoicePoint--Langone co-founded this "'data-mining" company (mining your data to market to the government and businesses), which among other scandals was <a href="http://www.salon.com/news/politics/feature/2000/12/04/voter_file/print.html" target="blank" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">embroiled in the 2000 election debacle in Florida</a> under a $4 million no-bid contract to give Florida Secretary of State <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Katherine_Harris" target="blank" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">Katherine Harris</a> a list of 8,000 names of people <a href="http://www.salon.com/news/politics/feature/2000/12/04/voter_file/print.html" target="blank" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">to drop from the election rolls</a> who were supposedly felons, who turned out not to be. You probably recall that Harris declared Bush the winner of Florida by 1,784 votes and five <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/right-wing" target="blank" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">right-wing</a> judges on the Supreme Court stopped the recount, making Bush president--so a couple thousand voters turned away could have been the difference, even without the flawed butterfly ballot that added up for Pat Buchanan. You may not recall how ChoicePoint contributed to the election of Bush through its faulty list. And you might not have known that ChoicePoint executives like Langone and (now deceased) Rik Rozar gave hundreds of thousands to the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/GOP" target="blank" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">GOP</a>. (I have testified in favor of Senator Feingold's efforts to <a href="http://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:MOKJX4xSCm0J:judiciary.senate.gov/pdf/09-09-23%2520Graves%2520Testimony.pdf+Senator+Feingold+and+Choicepoint&hl=en&gl=us&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESh0Vqnt6Bn8aXmG6itpSmhAoz11muT9xeeTKACs5SEolXZgtD0FF4rYhkkouTaSng_m6p2jxID-l_u-Kz1X_6CZc9jvV9NA2Yt5WVbzDBz5lpK7Z56uJDuQF1bLInMRQeVhc4mD&sig=AHIEtbTtL3YwOrHIoDY_OH4EvttKSIAavA" target="blank" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">protect Americans from unwarranted data-mining</a> by the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/FBI" target="_blank" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">FBI</a>through National Security Letters and I have flagged the FBI's lucrative contracts with ChoicePoint.)

* <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/C.Boyden_Gray" target="blank" style=" border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">C. Boyden Gray</a>, heir to the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/R.J.Reynolds" target="blank" style=" border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">R.J. Reynolds</a> Tobacco Company fortune. Boyden has played a key role in most of the well-financed right-wing groups like <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Citizens_for_a_Sound_Economy" target="blank" style=" border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">Citizens for a Sound Economy</a>, founded by the <a href="http://www.prwatch.org/node/9396" target="blank" style=" border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">Koch Brothers</a> and related to the beltway gang behind the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Tax_Day_Tea_Party" target="blank" style=" border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">Tea Party</a>, <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/FreedomWorks" target="blank" style=" border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">FreedomWorks</a>. Gray has helped orchestrate everything from <a href="http://old.mediatransparency.org/story.php?storyID=15" target="blank" style=" border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">the big business attack on the EPA's regulation of air quality standards</a> to the effort to pack the courts with right-wing ideologues through his attack machine, the "<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Committee_for_Justice" target="blank" style=" border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">Committee for Justice</a>." When I worked as a staffer in the Senate, I helped fight Gray's efforts to use smear campaigns to pack the courts; and Gray's group was one of the recipients of files of mine and my colleagues taken by Republican political operatives. If you're disgusted with the Supreme Court decisions of right-wing ideologues like <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/John_Roberts" target="blank" style=" border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">John Roberts</a> and <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Clarence_Thomas" target="blank" style=" border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">Clarence Thomas</a>, you can thank Gray for helping them secure lifetime jobs as judges.

* <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Fred_Malek" target="blank" style=" border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">Fred Malek</a>, whose net worth is reportedly $250 million and who paid a $100,000 <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/05/25/AR2010052505203.html" target="blank" style=" border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">fine</a> to the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Securities_and_Exchange_Commission" target="blank" style=" border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">Securities and Exchange Commission</a> in a case involving a fraudulent pension fund scheme. He was <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/John_McCain's" target="blank" style=" border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">John McCain's</a> National Finance Committee co-chair in the 2008 election. He served as a director of <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Fannie_Mae" target="blank" style=" border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">Fannie Mae</a> during the period in which CEO <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Franklin_Raines" target="blank" style=" border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">Franklin Raines</a> was forced out by regulators and when Raines left the federal mortgage guarantor with <a href="http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/12292004_Fannie_Mae_Executives_Forced_Out.asp" target="blank" style=" border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">a pension worth over $100,000 a month</a> and over $5 million in stock options. Malek made his initial fortune as CEO of Marriott Hotels and is part of the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Carlyle_Group" target="blank" style=" border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">Carlyle Group</a>. He is also a George W. Bush crony who was part of the syndicate that bought the Texas Rangers, one of Bush's failed businesses. His reputation has been <a href="http://www.slate.com/id/2058486/" target="blank" style=" border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">tainted by evidence</a> he carried out some of President Nixon's dirty work in identifying Jewish federal employees, resulting in his resignation as Deputy Chairman of the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Republican_National_Committee" target="blank" style=" border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">Republican National Committee</a>, even though he was George H.W. Bush's pick for that post back in 1988.

These are just some of the multimillionaires backing new political attack ads to try to influence the outcome of the mid-term elections. Regardless of how one views Senator Feingold's record in the Senate, it is right to ask questions about who is spearheading attack ads, what their records are and what their real agenda is.

===

ChoicePoint--Langone co-founded this "'data-mining" company (mining your data to market to the government and businesses), which among other scandals was <a title="reference on embroiled in the 2000 election debacle in Florida" target="blank" href="http://www.salon.com/news/politics/feature/2000/12/04/voter_file/print.html">embroiled in the 2000 election debacle in Florida</a> under a $4 million no-bid contract to give Florida Secretary of State <a title="reference on Katherine Harris" target="self" href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Katherine_Harris">Katherine Harris</a> a list of 8,000 names of people <a title="reference on to drop from the election rolls" target="blank" href="http://www.salon.com/news/politics/feature/2000/12/04/voter_file/print.html">to drop from the election rolls</a> who were supposedly felons, who turned out not to be. You probably recall that Harris declared Bush the winner of Florida by 1,784 votes and five <a title="reference on right-wing" target="self" href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=right-wing">right-wing</a> judges on the Supreme Court stopped the recount, making Bush president--so a couple thousand voters turned away could have been the difference, even without the flawed butterfly ballot that added up for Pat Buchanan.

You may not recall how ChoicePoint contributed to the election of Bush through its faulty list. And you might not have known that ChoicePoint executives like Langone and (now deceased) Rik Rozar gave hundreds of thousands to the <a title="reference on GOP" target="self" href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=GOP">GOP</a>. (I have testified in favor of Senator Feingold's efforts to <a title="reference on protect Americans from unwarranted data-mining" target="blank" href="http://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:MOKJX4xSCm0J:judiciary.senate.gov/pdf/09-09-23%2520Graves%2520Testimony.pdf+Senator+Feingold+and+Choicepoint&hl=en&gl=us&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESh0Vqnt6Bn8aXmG6itpSmhAoz11muT9xeeTKACs5SEolXZgtD0FF4rYhkkouTaSng_m6p2jxID-l_u-Kz1X_6CZc9jvV9NA2Yt5WVbzDBz5lpK7Z56uJDuQF1bLInMRQeVhc4mD&sig=AHIEtbTtL3YwOrHIoDY_OH4EvttKSIAavA">protect Americans from unwarranted data-mining</a> by the <a title="reference on FBI" target="_self" href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=FBI">FBI</a> through National Security Letters and I have flagged the FBI's lucrative contracts with ChoicePoint.)

wiki

ChoicePoint (previous NYSE ticker symbol CPS) was a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data_aggregator" title="Data aggregator" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">data aggregation</a> company based in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alpharetta,Georgia" title="Alpharetta, Georgia" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">Alpharetta</a>, near <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlanta,Georgia" title="Atlanta, Georgia" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">Atlanta, Georgia</a>, United States, that acted as a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Private_intelligence_agency" title="Private intelligence agency" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">private intelligence service</a> to government and industry.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ChoicePoint#cite_note-WashingtonPost190105-2" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none; white-space: nowrap;">[2]</a> It was purchased in February 2008 by<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reed_Elsevier" title="Reed Elsevier" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">Reed Elsevier</a> (parent corporation of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LexisNexis" title="LexisNexis" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">LexisNexis</a>) in a cash deal for $3.6 billion USD.

ChoicePoint combined personal data sourced from multiple public and private databases for sale to the government and the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Private_sector" title="Private sector" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">private sector</a>. The firm maintained more than 17 billion records of individuals and businesses, which it sold to an estimated 100,000 clients, including 7,000 federal, state and local law enforcement agencies (30 March 2005 estimates).<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ChoicePoint#cite_note-EPIC-3" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none; white-space: nowrap;">[3]</a>

However, this data had not been secured sufficiently to prevent theft of data on at least one occasion (see below). The company had also been the subject of lawsuits for maintaining inaccurate data, inquiries whether it allowed political bias to influence its performance of government contracts and accused of illegally selling the data of overseas citizens to the U.S. government. ChoicePoint was used to perform consumer and criminal background checks on prospective employees of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Presidency_of_Barack_Obama" title="Presidency of Barack Obama" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">Obama administration</a>.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ChoicePoint#cite_note-CNN-4" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none; white-space: nowrap;">[4]</a>

<h2 style="background-image: none; margin: 0px 0px 0.6em; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; border: none; display: inline;">Contents</h2>

[<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ChoicePoint#" class="internal" id="togglelink" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">hide</a>] </div>

<li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-1" style=" margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ChoicePoint#Activities" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">1 Activities</a></li>

<li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-2" style=" margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ChoicePoint#Florida_voter_file_contract" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">2 Florida voter file contract</a></li>

<li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-3" style=" margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ChoicePoint#Major_security_breaches" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">3 Major security breaches</a>

<li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-4" style=" margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ChoicePoint#Incident_made_public_due_to_California_law" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">3.1 Incident made public due to California law</a></li>

<li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-5" style=" margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ChoicePoint#Investigations" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">3.2 Investigations</a></li>

<li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-6" style=" margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ChoicePoint#Cost_to_the_company" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">3.3 Cost to the company</a></li>

<li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-7" style=" margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ChoicePoint#Changes_to_business_practices" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">3.4 Changes to business practices</a></li>

</ul>

</li>

<li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-8" style=" margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ChoicePoint#Other_topics" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">4 Other topics</a>

<li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-10" style=" margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ChoicePoint#National_Credit_Audit_Corporation" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">4.2 National Credit Audit Corporation</a></li>

<li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-11" style=" margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ChoicePoint#CLUE_database_misuse" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">4.3 CLUE database misuse</a></li>

</ul>

</li>

<li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-13" style=" margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ChoicePoint#References" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">6 References</a></li>

<li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-14" style=" margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ChoicePoint#External_links" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">7 External links</a></li>

</ul>

</div>

<h2 style="background-image: none; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-weight: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0.6em; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0.17em; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); line-height: 19.2px;">Activities<span class="mw-editsection mw-editsection-expanded" style="user-select: none; margin-left: 1em; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1em; display: inline-block; white-space: nowrap; padding-right: 0.25em; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; direction: ltr;">[<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=ChoicePoint&action=edit&section=1" title="Edit section: Activities" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">edit source</a> | <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=ChoicePoint&veaction=edit&section=1" title="Edit section: Activities" class="mw-editsection-visualeditor" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">editbeta</a>]</h2>

ChoicePoint generated revenue of around US$1 billion in 2006,<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ChoicePoint#cite_note-5" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none; white-space: nowrap;">[5]</a> and employed around 5,500 people at nearly 60 locations in the US and UK.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ChoicePoint#cite_note-Company_website-6" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none; white-space: nowrap;">[6]</a>

The company's activities included the following (30 March 2005 estimates):<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ChoicePoint#cite_note-EPIC-3" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none; white-space: nowrap;">[3]</a>

<li style=" margin-bottom: 0.1em;">Consumer initiated transactions (60% of business), most of which are regulated by the Fair Credit Reporting Act. These included pre-employment screening, insurance underwriting services, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tenant_Screening" title="Tenant Screening" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">tenant screening</a> services, consumer record reporting and title insurance finances</li>

</ul>

<li style=" margin-bottom: 0.1em;">Marketing services (9%), none of which include the distribution of personally identifiable information, but are regulated by state and federal "Do Not Mail" and "Do Not Call" legislation.</li>

</ul>

<li style=" margin-bottom: 0.1em;">Contracts with local and federal law enforcement agencies (5%)</li>

</ul>

<li style=" margin-bottom: 0.1em;">Data and authentication solutions (6%), including litigation and debt collection support to law firms, financial institutions and general business.</li>

</ul>

<li style=" margin-bottom: 0.1em;">Software and technology services (20%), which do not include the distribution of personally identifiable information.</li>

</ul>

ChoicePoint's database of personal information contained names, addresses, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_Security_number" title="Social Security number" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">Social Security numbers</a>, credit reports, and other sensitive data. In 2005, this database contained 250 terabytes of data on 220 million people.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ChoicePoint#cite_note-7" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none; white-space: nowrap;">[7]</a> ChoicePoint also operated the Comprehensive Loss Underwriting Exchange (CLUE), a database used by insurance companies to share histories of claims or damage reports on property.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ChoicePoint#cite_note-msnmoney-8" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none; white-space: nowrap;">[8]</a> The CLUE database includes identification information on properties such as homes and automobiles, policy records (name, date of birth, policy number), and records of claims (date and type of loss, amounts paid). As of 2006, history is kept for five years. It contains records of damage reports regardless of whether the damage resulted in a claim.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ChoicePoint#cite_note-msnmoney-8" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none; white-space: nowrap;">[8]</a>

<h2 style="background-image: none; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-weight: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0.6em; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0.17em; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); line-height: 19.2px;">Florida voter file contract<span class="mw-editsection mw-editsection-expanded" style="user-select: none; margin-left: 1em; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1em; display: inline-block; white-space: nowrap; padding-right: 0.25em; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; direction: ltr;">[<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=ChoicePoint&action=edit&section=2" title="Edit section: Florida voter file contract" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">edit source</a> | <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=ChoicePoint&veaction=edit&section=2" title="Edit section: Florida voter file contract" class="mw-editsection-visualeditor" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">editbeta</a>]</h2>

ChoicePoint became embroiled in the Florida voter file controversy of 2000 through its acquisition of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DBT_Online_Inc." title="DBT Online Inc." style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">Database Technologies</a> (founded by<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hank_Asher" title="Hank Asher" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">Hank Asher</a> and known as DBT Online Inc.), a data analysis company in the same year. During the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S.presidential_election,2000" title="U.S. presidential election, 2000" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">U.S. presidential election</a> of 2000, people in Florida were struck from <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florida_Central_Voter_File" title="Florida Central Voter File" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">central voter file</a> and not permitted to vote. The US Presidential election hinged on the outcome of the vote in Florida.

DBT Online had been contracted to provide a list of voters barred from <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vote" title="Vote" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">voting</a> by the state of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florida" title="Florida" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">Florida</a> in 1998 for US$4 million, including a first year fee of US$2,317,800. The 1998 contracting process involved no <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bidding" title="Bidding" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">bidding</a>[<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed" title="Wikipedia:Citation needed" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">citation needed</a>].

In the aftermath of the vote, the owner of DBT Online, ChoicePoint,was accused of cooperating with Florida <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Governor_of_Florida" title="Governor of Florida" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">Governor</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeb_Bush" title="Jeb Bush" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">Jeb Bush</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secretary_of_State_of_Florida" title="Secretary of State of Florida" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">Secretary of State of Florida</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katherine_Harris" title="Katherine Harris" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">Katherine Harris</a>, and Florida Elections Unit Chief Clay Roberts, in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voter_fraud" title="Voter fraud" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">voter fraud</a>, conspiracy involving the central voter file. It was also accused of having a bias in favor of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republican_Party_(United_States)" title="Republican Party (United States)" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">Republican Party</a>, for knowingly using inaccurate data, and for <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Racism" title="Racism" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">racial discrimination</a>[<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed" title="Wikipedia:Citation needed" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">citation needed</a>].

The allegations charge that 57,700 people (15% of the list), primarily <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Democratic_Party" title="United States Democratic Party" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">Democrats</a> of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African-American" title="African-American" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">African-American</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hispanic" title="Hispanic" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">Hispanic</a> descent, were incorrectly listed as <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Felony" title="Felony" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">felons</a> and thus barred from voting[<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed" title="Wikipedia:Citation needed" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">citation needed</a>]. Reports estimate that 80% of these people would have voted, and that 90% of those who would have voted, would have voted for <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_Gore" title="Al Gore" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">Al Gore</a>.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ChoicePoint#cite_note-9" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none; white-space: nowrap;">[9]</a> Other allegations include listing voters as felons for alleged crimes said to have been committed several years in the future. The official (and disputed) margin of victory, in the election, was 537 votes.

ChoicePoint says that it acquired DBT Online after DBT delivered the initial 2000 voter exception list to Florida officials for verification and that it has "...no involvement in any election in any country."<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ChoicePoint#cite_note-ChoicePointDenies-10" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none; white-space: nowrap;">[10]</a> However ChoicePoint's acquisition of DBT Online was made public on 14 February 2000 and in May 2000, DBT discovered that approximately 8,000 names were erroneously placed on the exclusion list, so their claim of no involvement does not match the timeline.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ChoicePoint#cite_note-11" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none; white-space: nowrap;">[11]</a>

ChoicePoint Vice President James Lee said that at least 8,000 names were incorrectly listed in this fashion when the company passed on a list given by the state of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas" title="Texas" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">Texas</a>, and these names were removed prior to the election. Fagan described this error as a "minor glitch."<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ChoicePoint#cite_note-12" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none; white-space: nowrap;">[12]</a> ChoicePoint, as a matter of policy, does not verify the accuracy of its data arguing that it is simply compiling public information and that it is the original collectors' responsibility to verify accuracy.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ChoicePoint#cite_note-13" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none; white-space: nowrap;">[13]</a>

On April 17, 2000, ChoicePoint Vice-President Martin Fagen testified at a special <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Congress" title="United States Congress" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">Congressional</a> hearing in Atlanta that Florida had ordered DBT to add to the list voters who matched 80% of an ineligible voter's name, middle initials, and suffixes were to be dropped, while nicknames and aliases were added.[<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed" title="Wikipedia:Citation needed" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">citation needed</a>] In addition, names were considered reversible, for example Clarence Thomas could be added in place of Thomas Clarence. Lee opened his testimony by noting that ChoicePoint intended to get out of the voter purge industry. Then, on February 16, 2001, DBT Senior Vice-President George Bruder testified before the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Commission_on_Civil_Rights" title="U.S. Commission on Civil Rights" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">U.S. Commission on Civil Rights</a>that the company had misinformed the Florida Supervisors of Elections regarding the usage of race in compiling the list. Greg Palast concludes, "An <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African-American" title="African-American" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">African-American</a> felon named Will Whiting might wipe out the registration of an innocent African-American Will Whiting, but not the rights of an innocent <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whites" title="Whites" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">Caucasian</a> Will Whiting." Palast alleges that 80% of the 57,700 people allegedly barred from voting were African-American.

<h2 style="background-image: none; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-weight: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0.6em; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0.17em; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); line-height: 19.2px;">Major security breaches<span class="mw-editsection mw-editsection-expanded" style="user-select: none; margin-left: 1em; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1em; display: inline-block; white-space: nowrap; padding-right: 0.25em; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; direction: ltr;">[<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=ChoicePoint&action=edit&section=3" title="Edit section: Major security breaches" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">edit source</a> | <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=ChoicePoint&veaction=edit&section=3" title="Edit section: Major security breaches" class="mw-editsection-visualeditor" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">editbeta</a>]</h2>

ChoicePoint has suffered several security breaches which have led to the theft of the personal information it holds. The company has been criticized as much for the way it has handled the thefts as the incidents themselves. Its actions over a substantial breach in 2004 led to calls for new national privacy laws in the US to protect the personal data of Americans.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ChoicePoint#cite_note-14" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none; white-space: nowrap;">[14]</a> Since then, reports published in the media say the company has improved its privacy practices.

ChoicePoint discovered on September 27, 2004, that some of its small-business customers in Los Angeles were engaged in suspicious activity. The company notified police, but did not inform the individuals whose data was leaked until early February 2005. At first, the company only notified some 35,000 California residents as required by law in that state. After a public outcry for more information, the company notified a further 128,000 US citizens whose records were improperly accessed.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ChoicePoint#cite_note-Jurist260106-15" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none; white-space: nowrap;">[15]</a>

Thieves used previously stolen identities to create apparently legitimate businesses seeking ChoicePoint accounts. Over the course of more than a year they then opened about 50 accounts and received personal information on individuals, including names, addresses, and identification numbers. The old-fashioned scheme, that did not involve any hacking, allowed each fake company account to collect "just enough data to fly under the radar"<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ChoicePoint#cite_note-16" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none; white-space: nowrap;">[16]</a> in order to facilitate at least 750 cases of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Identity_theft" title="Identity theft" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">identity theft</a>.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ChoicePoint#cite_note-cnet200705-17" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none; white-space: nowrap;">[17]</a> In total, more than 5,000 cases of identity theft were reported as the result of the breach.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ChoicePoint#cite_note-Jurist260106-15" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none; white-space: nowrap;">[15]</a>

The scam came to light when 41-year-old Nigerian citizen, Olatunji Oluwatosin, was detected attempting to gain access to personal data held by ChoicePoint. Olatunji Oluwatosin was arrested in October 2004 with five cell phones and three credit cards that belonged to other people, according to investigators. He was sentenced by the Los Angeles County Superior Court in February 2005 to 16 months in prison.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ChoicePoint#cite_note-18" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none; white-space: nowrap;">[18]</a>

<h3 style="background-image: none; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 0.3em; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0.17em; border-bottom-style: none; line-height: 19.2px;">Incident made public due to California law<span class="mw-editsection mw-editsection-expanded" style="user-select: none; font-weight: normal; margin-left: 1em; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1em; display: inline-block; white-space: nowrap; padding-right: 0.25em; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; direction: ltr;">[<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=ChoicePoint&action=edit&section=4" title="Edit section: Incident made public due to California law" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">edit source</a> | <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=ChoicePoint&veaction=edit&section=4" title="Edit section: Incident made public due to California law" class="mw-editsection-visualeditor" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">editbeta</a>]</h3>

The incident became public because of a California notification law that came into effect on 1 July 2003 requiring companies to notify individuals when their personal information has been stolen. Further, until pressured by investigations (see below), ChoicePoint restricted its search of compromised records to the 15 months that the California law had been in force, leading it to identify 145,000 records against the eventual total of 163,000.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ChoicePoint#cite_note-cnet200705-17" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none; white-space: nowrap;">[17]</a>

<h3 style="background-image: none; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 0.3em; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0.17em; border-bottom-style: none; line-height: 19.2px;">Investigations<span class="mw-editsection mw-editsection-expanded" style="user-select: none; font-weight: normal; margin-left: 1em; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1em; display: inline-block; white-space: nowrap; padding-right: 0.25em; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; direction: ltr;">[<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=ChoicePoint&action=edit&section=5" title="Edit section: Investigations" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">edit source</a> | <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=ChoicePoint&veaction=edit&section=5" title="Edit section: Investigations" class="mw-editsection-visualeditor" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">editbeta</a>]</h3>

The security breach sparked a number of investigations to include members of Congress, the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Trade_Commission" title="Federal Trade Commission" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">Federal Trade Commission</a>, the US<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Securities_and_Exchange_Commission" title="Securities and Exchange Commission" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">Securities and Exchange Commission</a> and US state attorneys general as well as personal lawsuits.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ChoicePoint#cite_note-19" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none; white-space: nowrap;">[19]</a>

Media investigations generated by the incident brought to light that ChoicePoint had suffered a previous similar ID theft in 2002. A similar scam of establishing fake businesses has been used to make between 7,000 and 10,000 inquiries on names and Social Security numbers to commit at least US$1 million in fraud.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ChoicePoint#cite_note-20" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none; white-space: nowrap;">[20]</a>

Congress members rebuked the company for the security breaches, its intention only to notify California citizens of the breach and proposed federal privacy reforms.

The company eventually reached an agreement with around 20 state attorneys general to notify individuals in other states that their data had been stolen.

<h3 style="background-image: none; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 0.3em; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0.17em; border-bottom-style: none; line-height: 19.2px;">Cost to the company<span class="mw-editsection mw-editsection-expanded" style="user-select: none; font-weight: normal; margin-left: 1em; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1em; display: inline-block; white-space: nowrap; padding-right: 0.25em; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; direction: ltr;">[<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=ChoicePoint&action=edit&section=6" title="Edit section: Cost to the company" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">edit source</a> | <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=ChoicePoint&veaction=edit&section=6" title="Edit section: Cost to the company" class="mw-editsection-visualeditor" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">editbeta</a>]</h3>

The incident cost ChoicePoint millions of dollars. The company reported charges of US$11.4 million related to the incident in the first six months of 2005, including US$2 million to notify victims of the incident and US$9.4 million in legal and professional fees.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ChoicePoint#cite_note-21" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none; white-space: nowrap;">[21]</a> Changes to business practices to avoid further breaches were expected to cost the company between $15 million and $20 million in sales during 2005 and to reduce earnings per share by 10 cents to 12 cents.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ChoicePoint#cite_note-MSN040305-22" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none; white-space: nowrap;">[22]</a>

In January 2006 ChoicePoint was fined US$15 million by the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Trade_Commission" title="Federal Trade Commission" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">Federal Trade Commission</a>: US$10 million in civil penalties and US$5 million to compensate victims of the security breach. In addition, ChoicePoint was required to take steps to better secure personal information.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ChoicePoint#cite_note-23" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none; white-space: nowrap;">[23]</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ChoicePoint#cite_note-24" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none; white-space: nowrap;">[24]</a>

The announcements of frauds and the fines have been accompanied by substantial falls in the value of the company's traded shares.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ChoicePoint#cite_note-25" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none; white-space: nowrap;">[25]</a>

<h3 style="background-image: none; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 0.3em; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0.17em; border-bottom-style: none; line-height: 19.2px;">Changes to business practices<span class="mw-editsection mw-editsection-expanded" style="user-select: none; font-weight: normal; margin-left: 1em; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1em; display: inline-block; white-space: nowrap; padding-right: 0.25em; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; direction: ltr;">[<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=ChoicePoint&action=edit&section=7" title="Edit section: Changes to business practices" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">edit source</a> | <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=ChoicePoint&veaction=edit&section=7" title="Edit section: Changes to business practices" class="mw-editsection-visualeditor" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">editbeta</a>]</h3>

ChoicePoint's steps to improve its data privacy practices were noted in the media, where some reports state that the company should now be considered an industry leader in data privacy.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ChoicePoint#cite_note-choicepoint.com-26" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none; white-space: nowrap;">[26]</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ChoicePoint#cite_note-Keeping_Your_Enemies_Close-27" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none; white-space: nowrap;">[27]</a> Not everyone was so sanguine; <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marc_Rotenberg" title="Marc Rotenberg" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">Marc Rotenberg</a> of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_Privacy_Information_Center" title="Electronic Privacy Information Center" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">Electronic Privacy Information Center</a> (EPIC) said,

<dd style=" line-height: 1.5em; margin-left: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 0.1em; margin-right: 0px;">"While I'm prepared to give them credit for a series of positive steps, I don't think it would be accurate to say that they got to this position on their own. It took a lot of work by EPIC and other organizations."<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ChoicePoint#cite_note-28" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none; white-space: nowrap;">[28]</a></dd>

</dl>

<h2 style="background-image: none; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-weight: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0.6em; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0.17em; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); line-height: 19.2px;">Other topics<span class="mw-editsection mw-editsection-expanded" style="user-select: none; margin-left: 1em; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1em; display: inline-block; white-space: nowrap; padding-right: 0.25em; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; direction: ltr;">[<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=ChoicePoint&action=edit&section=8" title="Edit section: Other topics" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">edit source</a> | <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=ChoicePoint&veaction=edit&section=8" title="Edit section: Other topics" class="mw-editsection-visualeditor" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">editbeta</a>]</h2>

<h3 style="background-image: none; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 0.3em; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0.17em; border-bottom-style: none; line-height: 19.2px;">Out-of-date data<span class="mw-editsection mw-editsection-expanded" style="user-select: none; font-weight: normal; margin-left: 1em; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1em; display: inline-block; white-space: nowrap; padding-right: 0.25em; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; direction: ltr;">[<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=ChoicePoint&action=edit&section=9" title="Edit section: Out-of-date data" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">edit source</a> | <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=ChoicePoint&veaction=edit&section=9" title="Edit section: Out-of-date data" class="mw-editsection-visualeditor" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">editbeta</a>]</h3>

Several lawsuits and consumer complaints have accused ChoicePoint of providing inaccurate and out-of-date information in its criminal background reports, resulting in unfair job losses for applicants. Problems also arose concerning the accuracy of individual's financial standing, the difficulty of correcting errors, and individuals being refused loans and housing support.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ChoicePoint#cite_note-Wired230305-29" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none; white-space: nowrap;">[29]</a>

It is claimed that the company has not met US federal laws requiring consumer reporting agencies (third parties who conduct background checks for employers) to verify the data they give employers or notify job applicants when they provide adverse information to an employer.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ChoicePoint#cite_note-Wired230305-29" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none; white-space: nowrap;">[29]</a>

<h3 style="background-image: none; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 0.3em; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0.17em; border-bottom-style: none; line-height: 19.2px;">National Credit Audit Corporation<span class="mw-editsection mw-editsection-expanded" style="user-select: none; font-weight: normal; margin-left: 1em; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1em; display: inline-block; white-space: nowrap; padding-right: 0.25em; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; direction: ltr;">[<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=ChoicePoint&action=edit&section=10" title="Edit section: National Credit Audit Corporation" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">edit source</a> | <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=ChoicePoint&veaction=edit&section=10" title="Edit section: National Credit Audit Corporation" class="mw-editsection-visualeditor" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">editbeta</a>]</h3>

ChoicePoint subsidiary, National Credit Audit Corporation of Peoria, Illinois has been accused of attempting to force magazine subscribers to pay for merchandise which they have not ordered.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ChoicePoint#cite_note-30" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none; white-space: nowrap;">[30]</a>

<h3 style="background-image: none; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 0.3em; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0.17em; border-bottom-style: none; line-height: 19.2px;">CLUE database misuse<span class="mw-editsection mw-editsection-expanded" style="user-select: none; font-weight: normal; margin-left: 1em; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1em; display: inline-block; white-space: nowrap; padding-right: 0.25em; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; direction: ltr;">[<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=ChoicePoint&action=edit&section=11" title="Edit section: CLUE database misuse" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">edit source</a> | <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=ChoicePoint&veaction=edit&section=11" title="Edit section: CLUE database misuse" class="mw-editsection-visualeditor" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">editbeta</a>]</h3>

<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MSN" title="MSN" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">MSN</a> Money columnist Liz Pulliam Weston wrote a column<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ChoicePoint#cite_note-msnmoney-8" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none; white-space: nowrap;">[8]</a> about a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bremerton,_Washington" title="Bremerton, Washington" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">Bremerton, Washington</a> couple, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_Farm_Insurance" title="State Farm Insurance" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">State Farm Insurance</a> customers for 30 years, who discussed an incident of rainwater damage to their home with the company. They ended up not filing a claim, thus maintaining a claim-free history for their home. In spite of the claim-free history, State Farm dropped them as customers, and shared information on their water damage with ChoicePoint's CLUE database. That sharing led to the couple being repeatedly denied coverage by other insurance companies. The column also describes anecdotal evidence cited by real estate agents that information obtained from CLUE has caused home sales to fall through.

<h2 style="background-image: none; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-weight: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0.6em; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0.17em; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); line-height: 19.2px;">See also<span class="mw-editsection mw-editsection-expanded" style="user-select: none; margin-left: 1em; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1em; display: inline-block; white-space: nowrap; padding-right: 0.25em; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; direction: ltr;">[<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=ChoicePoint&action=edit&section=12" title="Edit section: See also" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">edit source</a> | <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=ChoicePoint&veaction=edit&section=12" title="Edit section: See also" class="mw-editsection-visualeditor" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">editbeta</a>]</h2>

<li style=" margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lexis_Nexis" title="Lexis Nexis" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">Lexis Nexis</a></li>

<li style=" margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hank_Asher" title="Hank Asher" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">Hank Asher</a></li>

<li style=" margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DBT_Online" title="DBT Online" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">DBT Online</a></li>

</ul>

<h2 style="background-image: none; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-weight: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0.6em; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0.17em; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); line-height: 19.2px;">References<span class="mw-editsection mw-editsection-expanded" style="user-select: none; margin-left: 1em; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1em; display: inline-block; white-space: nowrap; padding-right: 0.25em; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; direction: ltr;">[<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=ChoicePoint&action=edit&section=13" title="Edit section: References" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">edit source</a> | <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=ChoicePoint&veaction=edit&section=13" title="Edit section: References" class="mw-editsection-visualeditor" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">editbeta</a>]</h2>

<li id="cite_note-zenobank-1" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;">^ <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ChoicePoint#cite_ref-zenobank_1-0" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">a</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ChoicePoint#cite_ref-zenobank_1-1" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">b</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://zenobank.com/index.php?symbol=CPS&page=quotesearch" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: url("data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAYAAACNMs+9AAAAVklEQVR4Xn3PgQkAMQhDUXfqTu7kTtkpd5RA8AInfArtQ2iRXFWT2QedAfttj2FsPIOE1eCOlEuoWWjgzYaB/IkeGOrxXhqB+uA9Bfcm0lAZuh+YIeAD+cAqSz4kCMUAAAAASUVORK5CYII="); padding-right: 13px; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat;">"Company Profile for ChoicePoint Inc (CPS)"</a>. Retrieved 2008-10-06.</li>

<li id="cite_note-WashingtonPost190105-2" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ChoicePoint#cite_ref-WashingtonPost190105_2-0" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">^{</a> }<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A22269-2005Jan19.html" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: url("data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAYAAACNMs+9AAAAVklEQVR4Xn3PgQkAMQhDUXfqTu7kTtkpd5RA8AInfArtQ2iRXFWT2QedAfttj2FsPIOE1eCOlEuoWWjgzYaB/IkeGOrxXhqB+uA9Bfcm0lAZuh+YIeAD+cAqSz4kCMUAAAAASUVORK5CYII="); padding-right: 13px; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat;">In Age of Security, Firm Mines Wealth Of Personal Data</a>,Washington Post, 19 January 2005, retrieved 14 March 2007</li>

<li id="cite_note-EPIC-3" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;">^ <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ChoicePoint#cite_ref-EPIC_3-0" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">a</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ChoicePoint#cite_ref-EPIC_3-1" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">b</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.epic.org/privacy/choicepoint/" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: url("data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAYAAACNMs+9AAAAVklEQVR4Xn3PgQkAMQhDUXfqTu7kTtkpd5RA8AInfArtQ2iRXFWT2QedAfttj2FsPIOE1eCOlEuoWWjgzYaB/IkeGOrxXhqB+uA9Bfcm0lAZuh+YIeAD+cAqSz4kCMUAAAAASUVORK5CYII="); padding-right: 13px; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat;">EPIC</a>, 30 March 2005, loaded 3 April 2007</li>

<li id="cite_note-CNN-4" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ChoicePoint#cite_ref-CNN_4-0" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">^{</a> }<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2008/images/11/13/obamaquestionnaire.pdf.pdf" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: url("http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/23/Icons-mini-file_acrobat.gif"); padding-right: 18px; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat;">CNN Obama Questionnaire</a>, 13 November 2008, loaded 13 November 2008</li>

<li id="cite_note-5" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ChoicePoint#cite_ref-5" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">^{</a> }<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://finance.yahoo.com/q/is?s=CPS&annual" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: url("data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAYAAACNMs+9AAAAVklEQVR4Xn3PgQkAMQhDUXfqTu7kTtkpd5RA8AInfArtQ2iRXFWT2QedAfttj2FsPIOE1eCOlEuoWWjgzYaB/IkeGOrxXhqB+uA9Bfcm0lAZuh+YIeAD+cAqSz4kCMUAAAAASUVORK5CYII="); padding-right: 13px; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat;">ChoicePoint at Yahoo Finance</a>, retrieved 12 September 2007</li>

<li id="cite_note-Company_website-6" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ChoicePoint#cite_ref-Company_website_6-0" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">^{</a> }<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.choicepoint.com/about/overview.html" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: url("data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAYAAACNMs+9AAAAVklEQVR4Xn3PgQkAMQhDUXfqTu7kTtkpd5RA8AInfArtQ2iRXFWT2QedAfttj2FsPIOE1eCOlEuoWWjgzYaB/IkeGOrxXhqB+uA9Bfcm0lAZuh+YIeAD+cAqSz4kCMUAAAAASUVORK5CYII="); padding-right: 13px; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat;">ChoicePoint website</a>, retrieved 12 September 2007</li>

<li id="cite_note-7" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ChoicePoint#cite_ref-7" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">^{</a> }<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/05_04/b3917056_mz005.htm" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: url("data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAYAAACNMs+9AAAAVklEQVR4Xn3PgQkAMQhDUXfqTu7kTtkpd5RA8AInfArtQ2iRXFWT2QedAfttj2FsPIOE1eCOlEuoWWjgzYaB/IkeGOrxXhqB+uA9Bfcm0lAZuh+YIeAD+cAqSz4kCMUAAAAASUVORK5CYII="); padding-right: 13px; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat;">They're Watching You</a>, Business Week, 24 January 2005, retrieved 10 April 2007</li>

<li id="cite_note-msnmoney-8" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;">^ <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ChoicePoint#cite_ref-msnmoney_8-0" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">a</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ChoicePoint#cite_ref-msnmoney_8-1" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">b</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ChoicePoint#cite_ref-msnmoney_8-2" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">c</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Insurance/InsureYourHome/InsurersKeepASecretHistoryOfYourHome.aspx" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: url("data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAYAAACNMs+9AAAAVklEQVR4Xn3PgQkAMQhDUXfqTu7kTtkpd5RA8AInfArtQ2iRXFWT2QedAfttj2FsPIOE1eCOlEuoWWjgzYaB/IkeGOrxXhqB+uA9Bfcm0lAZuh+YIeAD+cAqSz4kCMUAAAAASUVORK5CYII="); padding-right: 13px; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat;">Insurers keep a secret history of your home</a>, MSN Money, 30 July 2006, retrieved 12 September 2007</li>

<li id="cite_note-9" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ChoicePoint#cite_ref-9" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">^{</a> }<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.gregpalast.com/a-blacklist-burning-for-bush/" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: url("data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAYAAACNMs+9AAAAVklEQVR4Xn3PgQkAMQhDUXfqTu7kTtkpd5RA8AInfArtQ2iRXFWT2QedAfttj2FsPIOE1eCOlEuoWWjgzYaB/IkeGOrxXhqB+uA9Bfcm0lAZuh+YIeAD+cAqSz4kCMUAAAAASUVORK5CYII="); padding-right: 13px; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat;">A Blacklist Burning For Bush</a>, Greg Palast, 10 December 2000, retrieved 12 September 2007</li>

<li id="cite_note-ChoicePointDenies-10" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ChoicePoint#cite_ref-ChoicePointDenies_10-0" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">^{</a> }<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.choicepoint.com/news/statement_08072006.html" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: url("data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAYAAACNMs+9AAAAVklEQVR4Xn3PgQkAMQhDUXfqTu7kTtkpd5RA8AInfArtQ2iRXFWT2QedAfttj2FsPIOE1eCOlEuoWWjgzYaB/IkeGOrxXhqB+uA9Bfcm0lAZuh+YIeAD+cAqSz4kCMUAAAAASUVORK5CYII="); padding-right: 13px; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat;">ChoicePoint's Mythical Role in Elections Past and Present</a>,ChoicePoint website,8 July 2007, retrieved 14 March 2007</li>

<li id="cite_note-11" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ChoicePoint#cite_ref-11" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">^{</a> }<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.usccr.gov/pubs/vote2000/report/ch5.htm" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: url("data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAYAAACNMs+9AAAAVklEQVR4Xn3PgQkAMQhDUXfqTu7kTtkpd5RA8AInfArtQ2iRXFWT2QedAfttj2FsPIOE1eCOlEuoWWjgzYaB/IkeGOrxXhqB+uA9Bfcm0lAZuh+YIeAD+cAqSz4kCMUAAAAASUVORK5CYII="); padding-right: 13px; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat;">Voting Irregularities in Florida During the 2000 Presidential Election</a>, Civil Rights Commission Report on 2000 Florida Elections, retrieved 14 March 2007</li>

<li id="cite_note-12" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ChoicePoint#cite_ref-12" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">^{</a> }<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://archive.salon.com/politics/feature/2000/12/04/voter_file/print.html" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: url("data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAYAAACNMs+9AAAAVklEQVR4Xn3PgQkAMQhDUXfqTu7kTtkpd5RA8AInfArtQ2iRXFWT2QedAfttj2FsPIOE1eCOlEuoWWjgzYaB/IkeGOrxXhqB+uA9Bfcm0lAZuh+YIeAD+cAqSz4kCMUAAAAASUVORK5CYII="); padding-right: 13px; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat;">Florida's flawed voter-cleansing program</a>, Salon, 4 December 2000, retrieved 12 September 2007</li>

<li id="cite_note-13" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ChoicePoint#cite_ref-13" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">^{</a> }<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.emergentchaos.com/archives/2007/03/choicepoints_error_rate.html" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: url("data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAYAAACNMs+9AAAAVklEQVR4Xn3PgQkAMQhDUXfqTu7kTtkpd5RA8AInfArtQ2iRXFWT2QedAfttj2FsPIOE1eCOlEuoWWjgzYaB/IkeGOrxXhqB+uA9Bfcm0lAZuh+YIeAD+cAqSz4kCMUAAAAASUVORK5CYII="); padding-right: 13px; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat;">Choicepoint's Error Rate</a> Emergent Chaos loaded 14 March 2007</li>

<li id="cite_note-14" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ChoicePoint#cite_ref-14" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">^{</a> }<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.pcworld.com/article/119790/choicepoints_error_sparks_talk_of_id_theft_law.html" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: url("data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAYAAACNMs+9AAAAVklEQVR4Xn3PgQkAMQhDUXfqTu7kTtkpd5RA8AInfArtQ2iRXFWT2QedAfttj2FsPIOE1eCOlEuoWWjgzYaB/IkeGOrxXhqB+uA9Bfcm0lAZuh+YIeAD+cAqSz4kCMUAAAAASUVORK5CYII="); padding-right: 13px; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat;">ChoicePoint's error sparks talk of ID theft law</a>, By Grant Gross, IDG News Feb 23, 2005, retrieved 26 December 2011</li>

<li id="cite_note-Jurist260106-15" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;">^ <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ChoicePoint#cite_ref-Jurist260106_15-0" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">a</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ChoicePoint#cite_ref-Jurist260106_15-1" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">b</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/paperchase/2006/01/ftc-imposes-record-fine-on-choicepoint.php" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: url("data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAYAAACNMs+9AAAAVklEQVR4Xn3PgQkAMQhDUXfqTu7kTtkpd5RA8AInfArtQ2iRXFWT2QedAfttj2FsPIOE1eCOlEuoWWjgzYaB/IkeGOrxXhqB+uA9Bfcm0lAZuh+YIeAD+cAqSz4kCMUAAAAASUVORK5CYII="); padding-right: 13px; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat;">FTC imposes record fine on ChoicePoint in data-loss case</a>,Jurist, 26 January 2006, loaded 30 March 2007</li>

<li id="cite_note-16" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ChoicePoint#cite_ref-16" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">^{</a> }<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.redherring.com/Home/11336" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: url("data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAYAAACNMs+9AAAAVklEQVR4Xn3PgQkAMQhDUXfqTu7kTtkpd5RA8AInfArtQ2iRXFWT2QedAfttj2FsPIOE1eCOlEuoWWjgzYaB/IkeGOrxXhqB+uA9Bfcm0lAZuh+YIeAD+cAqSz4kCMUAAAAASUVORK5CYII="); padding-right: 13px; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat;">The ChoicePoint Incident</a>, Red Herring, 22 February 2005, retrieved 12 September 2007</li>

<li id="cite_note-cnet200705-17" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;">^ <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ChoicePoint#cite_ref-cnet200705_17-0" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">a</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ChoicePoint#cite_ref-cnet200705_17-1" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">b</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://news.com.com/Break-in+costs+ChoicePoint+millions/2100-7350_3-5797213.html" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: url("data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAYAAACNMs+9AAAAVklEQVR4Xn3PgQkAMQhDUXfqTu7kTtkpd5RA8AInfArtQ2iRXFWT2QedAfttj2FsPIOE1eCOlEuoWWjgzYaB/IkeGOrxXhqB+uA9Bfcm0lAZuh+YIeAD+cAqSz4kCMUAAAAASUVORK5CYII="); padding-right: 13px; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat;">Break-in costs ChoicePoint millions</a>, C|Net News, 20 July 2005, retrieved 12 September 2007</li>

<li id="cite_note-18" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ChoicePoint#cite_ref-18" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">^{</a> }<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A8587-2005Mar4.html" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: url("data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAYAAACNMs+9AAAAVklEQVR4Xn3PgQkAMQhDUXfqTu7kTtkpd5RA8AInfArtQ2iRXFWT2QedAfttj2FsPIOE1eCOlEuoWWjgzYaB/IkeGOrxXhqB+uA9Bfcm0lAZuh+YIeAD+cAqSz4kCMUAAAAASUVORK5CYII="); padding-right: 13px; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat;">ChoicePoint Data Cache Became a Powder Keg</a>, Washington Post, 5 March 2005, retrieved 12 September 2007</li>

<li id="cite_note-19" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ChoicePoint#cite_ref-19" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">^{</a> }<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://news.com.com/ChoicePoint+faces+inquiry,+will+curtail+data+sales/2100-1029_3-5599516.html" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: url("data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAYAAACNMs+9AAAAVklEQVR4Xn3PgQkAMQhDUXfqTu7kTtkpd5RA8AInfArtQ2iRXFWT2QedAfttj2FsPIOE1eCOlEuoWWjgzYaB/IkeGOrxXhqB+uA9Bfcm0lAZuh+YIeAD+cAqSz4kCMUAAAAASUVORK5CYII="); padding-right: 13px; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat;">ChoicePoint faces inquiry, will curtail data sales</a>, C|Net News.com, 4 March 2005, loaded 30 March 2007</li>

<li id="cite_note-20" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ChoicePoint#cite_ref-20" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">^{</a> }<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://archives.seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/texis.cgi/web/vortex/display?slug=choicepoint03&date=20050303" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: url("data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAYAAACNMs+9AAAAVklEQVR4Xn3PgQkAMQhDUXfqTu7kTtkpd5RA8AInfArtQ2iRXFWT2QedAfttj2FsPIOE1eCOlEuoWWjgzYaB/IkeGOrxXhqB+uA9Bfcm0lAZuh+YIeAD+cAqSz4kCMUAAAAASUVORK5CYII="); padding-right: 13px; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat;">ChoicePoint was victim of ID theft in '02</a>, Seattle Times, 3 March 2005, retrieved 12 September 2007</li>

<li id="cite_note-21" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ChoicePoint#cite_ref-21" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">^{</a> }<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1009_22-5797213.html" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: url("data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAYAAACNMs+9AAAAVklEQVR4Xn3PgQkAMQhDUXfqTu7kTtkpd5RA8AInfArtQ2iRXFWT2QedAfttj2FsPIOE1eCOlEuoWWjgzYaB/IkeGOrxXhqB+uA9Bfcm0lAZuh+YIeAD+cAqSz4kCMUAAAAASUVORK5CYII="); padding-right: 13px; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat;">Break-in costs ChoicePoint millions</a>, ZDNet News, 20 July 2005, loaded 30 March 2007</li>

<li id="cite_note-MSN040305-22" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ChoicePoint#cite_ref-MSN040305_22-0" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">^{</a> }<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7087572/" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: url("data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAYAAACNMs+9AAAAVklEQVR4Xn3PgQkAMQhDUXfqTu7kTtkpd5RA8AInfArtQ2iRXFWT2QedAfttj2FsPIOE1eCOlEuoWWjgzYaB/IkeGOrxXhqB+uA9Bfcm0lAZuh+YIeAD+cAqSz4kCMUAAAAASUVORK5CYII="); padding-right: 13px; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat;">SEC probing ChoicePoint stock sales</a>, MSN, 4 March 2005, loaded 30 March 2007</li>

<li id="cite_note-23" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ChoicePoint#cite_ref-23" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">^{</a> }<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://news.ft.com/cms/s/b02019f4-8ea2-11da-b752-0000779e2340.html" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: url("data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAYAAACNMs+9AAAAVklEQVR4Xn3PgQkAMQhDUXfqTu7kTtkpd5RA8AInfArtQ2iRXFWT2QedAfttj2FsPIOE1eCOlEuoWWjgzYaB/IkeGOrxXhqB+uA9Bfcm0lAZuh+YIeAD+cAqSz4kCMUAAAAASUVORK5CYII="); padding-right: 13px; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat;">ChoicePoint fined $15m by FTC</a>, Financial Times, 26 January 2006, retrieved 12 September 2007</li>

<li id="cite_note-24" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ChoicePoint#cite_ref-24" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">^{</a> }<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://articles.latimes.com/2006/jan/27/business/fi-choicepoint27" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: url("data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAYAAACNMs+9AAAAVklEQVR4Xn3PgQkAMQhDUXfqTu7kTtkpd5RA8AInfArtQ2iRXFWT2QedAfttj2FsPIOE1eCOlEuoWWjgzYaB/IkeGOrxXhqB+uA9Bfcm0lAZuh+YIeAD+cAqSz4kCMUAAAAASUVORK5CYII="); padding-right: 13px; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat;">ChoicePoint Is Fined for Data Breach</a>, Los Angeles Times, 27 January 2006, retrieved 14 November 2008</li>

<li id="cite_note-25" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ChoicePoint#cite_ref-25" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">^{</a> }<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://finance.yahoo.com/charts#chart2:symbol=cps;range=5y;indicator=volume;charttype=line;crosshair=on;logscale=on;source=undefined" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: url("data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAYAAACNMs+9AAAAVklEQVR4Xn3PgQkAMQhDUXfqTu7kTtkpd5RA8AInfArtQ2iRXFWT2QedAfttj2FsPIOE1eCOlEuoWWjgzYaB/IkeGOrxXhqB+uA9Bfcm0lAZuh+YIeAD+cAqSz4kCMUAAAAASUVORK5CYII="); padding-right: 13px; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat;">ChoicePoint quoted stock at Yahoo Finance</a>, retrieved 12 September 2007</li>

<li id="cite_note-choicepoint.com-26" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ChoicePoint#cite_ref-choicepoint.com_26-0" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">^{</a> }<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.choicepoint.com/news/choicepoint_1996.pdf" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: url("http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/23/Icons-mini-file_acrobat.gif"); padding-right: 18px; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat;">ChoicePoint Incident Leads To Improved Security, Others Must Follow</a>, Gartner Group, 19 September 2006, retrieved 14 March 2007</li>

<li id="cite_note-Keeping_Your_Enemies_Close-27" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ChoicePoint#cite_ref-Keeping_Your_Enemies_Close_27-0" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">^{</a> }<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.choicepoint.com/news/featureNYT_112206.html" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: url("data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAYAAACNMs+9AAAAVklEQVR4Xn3PgQkAMQhDUXfqTu7kTtkpd5RA8AInfArtQ2iRXFWT2QedAfttj2FsPIOE1eCOlEuoWWjgzYaB/IkeGOrxXhqB+uA9Bfcm0lAZuh+YIeAD+cAqSz4kCMUAAAAASUVORK5CYII="); padding-right: 13px; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat;">Keeping Your Enemies Close</a>, New York Times, 12 November 2006, republished by <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.choicepoint.com/" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: url("data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAYAAACNMs+9AAAAVklEQVR4Xn3PgQkAMQhDUXfqTu7kTtkpd5RA8AInfArtQ2iRXFWT2QedAfttj2FsPIOE1eCOlEuoWWjgzYaB/IkeGOrxXhqB+uA9Bfcm0lAZuh+YIeAD+cAqSz4kCMUAAAAASUVORK5CYII="); padding-right: 13px; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat;">ChoicePoint</a>, retrieved 12 September 2007</li>

<li id="cite_note-28" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ChoicePoint#cite_ref-28" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">^{</a> }Gary Rivlin (2006-11-12). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/12/business/yourmoney/12choice.html" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: url("data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAYAAACNMs+9AAAAVklEQVR4Xn3PgQkAMQhDUXfqTu7kTtkpd5RA8AInfArtQ2iRXFWT2QedAfttj2FsPIOE1eCOlEuoWWjgzYaB/IkeGOrxXhqB+uA9Bfcm0lAZuh+YIeAD+cAqSz4kCMUAAAAASUVORK5CYII="); padding-right: 13px; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat;">"Keeping Your Enemies Close"</a>.New York Times. p. 4. Retrieved 2008-02-04.</li>

<li id="cite_note-Wired230305-29" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;">^ <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ChoicePoint#cite_ref-Wired230305_29-0" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">a</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ChoicePoint#cite_ref-Wired230305_29-1" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">b</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.wired.com/politics/security/news/2005/03/66983" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: url("data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAYAAACNMs+9AAAAVklEQVR4Xn3PgQkAMQhDUXfqTu7kTtkpd5RA8AInfArtQ2iRXFWT2QedAfttj2FsPIOE1eCOlEuoWWjgzYaB/IkeGOrxXhqB+uA9Bfcm0lAZuh+YIeAD+cAqSz4kCMUAAAAASUVORK5CYII="); padding-right: 13px; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat;">ChoicePoint's checks under fire</a>, Wired, 23 March 2005, retrieved 12 September 2007</li>

<li id="cite_note-30" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ChoicePoint#cite_ref-30" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">^{</a> }<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://consumerist.com/consumer/shady/national-credit-audit-corporation-tries-to-collect-bogus-debt-270965.php" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: url("data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAYAAACNMs+9AAAAVklEQVR4Xn3PgQkAMQhDUXfqTu7kTtkpd5RA8AInfArtQ2iRXFWT2QedAfttj2FsPIOE1eCOlEuoWWjgzYaB/IkeGOrxXhqB+uA9Bfcm0lAZuh+YIeAD+cAqSz4kCMUAAAAASUVORK5CYII="); padding-right: 13px; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat;">National Credit Audit Corporation Tries To Collect Bogus Debt</a>, Consumerist.com June 2007, retrieved 10 September 2007</li>

</ol>

</div>

Choicepoint

Attachments