ChoicePoint to Stop Some Personal Data Sales

The company decided to stop selling sensitive data, such as Social Security numbers and driver's license numbers, after being tricked into divulging personal information on about 145,000 people to identity thieves who posed as customers, according to a statement attributed to ChoicePoint Chairman and CEO Derek V. Smith.
"These changes are a direct result of the recent fraud activity, our review ... of our experience and products, and the response of consumers who have made it clear to us that they do not approve of sensitive personal data being used without direct benefit to them," Smith says in the statement, which was posted on ChoicePoint's Web site.