Data broker Choicepoint has moved to reassure customers after a recent security scare by appointing a credential, compliance and privacy officer.
Carol DiBattiste, currently deputy administrator of the US Transportation Security Administration, has been drafted in in an attempt to regain consumer confidence.
"Recent events where criminals were able to become customers have led us to take this strong action in order to regain the trust of consumers that their information is being used only for their benefit, or the benefit of society at large," said John Hamre, Privacy Committee chairman at Choicepoint. "To regain that trust, we need a strong voice outside the day-to-day business that is responsible for customer credentialing, compliance and privacy."
The news comes soon after SC reported Choicepoint was scaling back its data sales as a response to the consumer outcry when the firm revealed details of up to 145,000 customers had been given to criminals.
The first conviction for identity theft related to the Choicepoint case was recorded yesterday. Adedayo Benson, a 38-year old Nigerian was sentenced to five-and-a-half years in prison ordered to pay over $150,000 in damages. He used personal information stolen from Choicepoint, and a number of other data brokers, in order to steal credit cards.
His sister Bibiana Benson was sentenced to four-and-a-half years for her part in the crime.
