The REAL Problem with NSA's Illegal Data Collection

Put aside for the moment that the Bush Administration's NSA spying program violates the 4th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, Section 222 of the Communications Act, Section 2702 of the Electronic Communication Privacy Act of 1986, and the Stored Communications Act, also of 1986.

Put aside that the Bush Administration's failure to properly brief the entire House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence about this violates the National Security Act of 1947.

Put aside the fact that the implementation of this program began BEFORE 9/11, as was revealed in the NSA's 2001 Transition Report -- ie. transition from Clinton to Bush at the BEGINNING of 2001.

Put aside that this wiretapping/snooping SHIT started virtually from the MOMENT Bush stole office.

Put aside the fact that since this started BEFORE 9/11 --- that it didn't help stop terrorists THEN, and it won't now.

Put aside the fact that those administering the intelligence community now -- Abrams, Poindexter, Negroponte -- are themselves criminals. Holdovers from the Iran-Contra Scandal.

Put aside that "fighting terrorism" is NOT It's purpose, but rather that it's purpose is to invade the privacy of anyone they damn well please, especially law-abiding political opponents.

Put aside that it's purpose, is POWER.

Just for shits and giggles, set all that illegality, corruption, and utter stupidity aside FOR A MOMENT.

Trust me! My head is shiny and I have puffy cheeks!

With the exception of Greg Palast & fellow geeks who are knowledgeable about computer privacy issues, basically NOBODY is talking about some of the most disturbing consequences of this No Such Agency spying hoopla.

Namely, how your personal data DRIFTS outside of their control, via companies like.... ChoicePoint.

As reported by CNN Money:

ChoicePoint Inc., a national provider of identification and credential verification services, says it will send an additional 110,000 statements to people informing them of possible identity theft after a group of well-organized criminals was able to obtain personal information on almost 140,000 consumers through the company.

The incident was not the result of its systems being hacked, but rather caused by criminals posing as legitimate businesses seeking to gain access to personal information.

ChoicePoint's databases contain 19 billion public records, including driving records, sex-offender lists and FBI lists of wanted criminals and suspected terrorists.

The Electronic Privacy Information Center, noted another consumer-data company, Acxiom (whom the TSA wanted to use for airline screening) suffered a security breach as well. That occurred in 2003.

Subsequent research revealed that about 50 fake companies had been set up and then registered with ChoicePoint to access consumer data.


The other reason you might have heard about ChoicePoint - besides the fact that they have piss-poor security over your personal records?

They, and their subsidiary, Database Technologies, were hired by Katherine Harris prior to the 2000 elections, to kick people off the voting roles in Florida.

Courtesy of SourceWatch:

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.

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". (A "minor" glitch that totally swung the election to Bush.) ChoicePoint, as a matter of policy, does not verify the accuracy of its data...

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 only 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.

According to the Electronic Privacy Information Center, since its spinoff from Equifax in 1997, ChoicePoint has acquired a number of information collection and processing companies.

Other companies gobbled up by ChoicePoint include:

National Data Retrieval, Inc., a provider of public records information;
List Source, Inc., d/b/a Kramer Lead Marketing Group, a marketing company in the life and health insurance and financial services markets;
Mortgage Asset Research Institute, Inc., a mortgage fraud monitoring company;
Identico Systems, LLC, a customer identity verification company;
Templar Corporation;
insuranceDecisions, Inc., an insurance industry claims administration company;
Bridger Systems, Inc., a USA PATRIOT Act compliance company;
CITI NETWORK, Inc. d/b/a Applicant Screening and Processing, a tenant screening company;
TML Information Services, Inc., a provider of motor vehicle reports;
Drug Free, Inc., a drug testing company;
National Drug Testing, Inc., a drug testing company;
Application Profiles, Inc., a background check company;
Informus Corporation; a company enabling ChoicePoint to offer products online;
Tyler-McLennon, Inc., a background screening company;
ChoicePoint Direct Inc., formerly known as Customer Development Corporation, a database marketing company;
EquiSearch Services, Inc.;
DATEQ Information Network, Inc., an insurance underwriting services company;
Washington Document Service, Inc., a court record retrieval service;
DataTracks Technology, Inc., a public record information company;
DataMart, Inc., a database software company;
Statewide Data Services, Inc;
NSA Resources, Inc., a drug testing company;
DBT Online, Inc., a public record services provider;
RRS Police Records Management, Inc., a provider of police reports and related services;
VIS'N Service Corporation;
Cat Data Group, LLC;
Drug Free Consortium, a drug testing company;
BTi Employee Screening Services, Inc., an employee pre-screening services company;
ABI Consulting Inc., a drug screening company;
Insurity Solutions, Inc., an insurance rating company;
National Medical Review Offices, Inc.;
Bode Technology Group, Inc., a DNA identification company;
Marketing Information & Technology, Inc., a direct marketing company;
Pinkerton's, Inc., a preemployment screening company;
Total eData Corporation, an e-mail database company;
L&S Report Service, Inc., a provider of police records;
Resident Data, Inc., a residential screening services provider;
Vital Chek Network, Inc., a provider of vital records;
Accident Report Services, Inc., a provider of police records;
Programming Resources Company, insurance software company;
Professional Test Administrators, Inc., a drug testing company;
CDB Infotek, a seller of public records;
Medical Information Network, LLC, an online physician verification service; and
Rapsheets.com, an online provider of criminal records data.

Can you say, "monopoly", boys and girls? I knew that you could......

By the way, it's not enough to ask a company whether they sell your personal information out or not.

The new thing is RENTING out your personal information. They essentially "loan" out your vital statistics to other companies for a specific period of time, after which point, that secondary company "promises" to either destroy those records, or purchase additional "rental" time from the primary company that collected your customer information.

Yeah. Right.

I don't know about you, but I do not recall Pandora's Box as having a self destruct mechanism, and even if if did, HELLO, your personal info is still out there -- being passed around without your consent. The effect, whether rented or bought, is the same. The only difference is it gives the company a nice little loophole with which to SCREW YOU!!

The Now Spying on American's illegal wiretapping & data mining program is not bad simply because they listen to "some" calls in detail. It is not just bad because it gathers phone data in a huge computer database that requires an entire FLOOR of cooling below the computers just so they don't melt down while they process your call to your babysitter, or to 1-976-GET-WETT porn, or midnight pizza delivery.

It is bad because much like the program itself, it suffers from MISSION DRIFT.

Not only does the program expand with no significant public oversight, it also SHARES data with other agencies, who then in turn, share THEIR data with companies like.....

ChoicePoint.

And Choicepoint is such a damn open door, you don't even have to be some whiz-bang high tech hacker to steal that info, all you have to do is register a fake business, print up fake letterhead, and fax ChoicePoint asking for info on Bob, the guy down the street whom you don't like because that little "terrorist" has the damn nerve to use his free speech rights and have a "BUSH SUCKS" sticker on his hybrid.

Now what is the significance of the fact that ChoicePoint and other "Data Miners" don't verify the accuracy of their data?

That OTHERS are using this questionable data to determine the accuracy of information provided by YOU. Information that DEFINES you. Information such as that travelers give when they fly.

Using it in programs like CAPPS II, the "Enhanced Computer Assisted Passenger Profiling System".

In 2003, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) planned to "enhance" transportation security by relying upon private-sector commercial database companies to identify passengers, and a set of secret procedures to perform a "risk assessment" on travelers. Passengers would be assigned a "risk score" by CAPPS that could subject them to heightened security screening or detention.

In Sept 2005 though, it abruptly abandoned the program, after FOIA requests revealed, and the TSA admitted, that it had collected and maintained detailed commercial data about thousands of travelers in violation of a prior notice stating it wouldn't do precisely what it did.

But it doesn't stop there.

ChoicePoint is also the biggest supplier of DNA to the FBI's "CODIS" system, and hopes to build a database of DNA samples from every person in the United States. "ChoicePoint Cares" -- takes DNA samples to hunt for those missing kids on milk cartons.

As Greg Palast puts it, "ChoicePoint's real product, like our President's, is panic. America's panic over lunatics with box-cutters has metastasized into a billion-dollar fear industry."

Feeling safer yet?


If ChoicePoint has compiled one of these fool reports about you, you can get a free copy:

• For the ChoicePoint employment background check report, call (866) 312-8075 or go HERE.
• To order your ChoicePoint tenant history report, call (877) 448-5732 or go HERE.
• For the ChoicePoint insurance claim report (known as a CLUE Report) call (866) 312-8076 or go HERE.

Other Helpful Resources:

• Equifax: Report fraud -- Call (888) 766-0008
• Experian (formerly TRW): Report fraud -- Call (888) 397-3742
• TransUnion: Report fraud -- Call (800) 680-7289