The segment opens with Maria Bartiromo introducing a report on the massive data breach at ChoicePoint, a Georgia‑based data‑aggregation firm that inadvertently sold personal information on roughly 145,000 consumers to criminals. Nanette Hansen explains how data brokers collect everything from motor‑vehicle registrations to Social Security numbers, and how thieves exploit these databases for identity fraud. Senator Chuck Schumer highlights the even broader risk posed by Westlaw, which provides virtually unrestricted access to millions of personal records. The story cites staggering statistics: 10 million Americans were victims of identity theft last year, costing the nation about $50 billion (≈$5,000 per victim). Security expert Robert Siciliano describes the situation as an "identity theft pandemic" and predicts that within 10‑15 years biometric identifiers (iris, facial, voice, fingerprint, ear‑canal scans) will be required for financial transactions. The segment concludes with calls for tighter federal regulation, a national data‑privacy law, and fundamental changes in how businesses protect data, while ending on a satirical note from comedian Dennis Miller.
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Personal data on 145,000 consumers was, uh, recently out, and now Congress wants to know why. Nanette Hanson has that story. Nanette?
Yeah, Maria, everything from motor vehicle registrations to military records to deed transfers to Social Security numbers all got into the hands of con men when ChoicePoint was duped. Why tightening laws may be only part of the solution.
I'll have that story next on The Closing Bell.
Well, we told you last week —about the theft of at least 145,000 consumer profiles from data collection agency ChoicePoint. Now there are renewed cries for tighter regulation and a national data privacy law. CNBC's Nanette Hansen reports on the growing problem of identity theft and its multi-billion-dollar price tag.
Used to be we'd clutch our wallets as close as possible in a crowd of people, but how do we fight off pickpockets we can't even see who are out to steal our Social Security numbers, birthdays, and addresses over the internet?
Anybody with a connection to the internet has access to your and my personal information, including name, address, and Social Security number, direct access to our credit reports. We are right now in what I would call an identity theft pandemic.
Data collecting companies, which gather credit history and other personal info, are often used by companies to screen job applicants or mortgage seekers. But identity thieves are using them to access a goldmine of personal info. The revelation that Georgia-based data collector ChoicePoint, a spinoff off of Equifax mistakenly sold private information on up to 145,000 people to criminals is now sparking calls for federal laws to close the loopholes.
We saw what happened with ChoicePoint, but what Westlaw does makes what ChoicePoint did child's play.
Westlaw is a leading data search firm that has thousands of corporate and government clients, including the U.S. Senate. Schumer showed reporters how his office used Westlaw.com to get Social Security numbers, addresses and birthdays of everybody from John Ashcroft to Jennifer Aniston.
It gives virtually unfettered and unnecessary access to millions of people's Social Security numbers, all at the touch of a button.
10 million Americans became victims of identity theft last year. Total cost: $50 billion. That's about $5,000 a victim. Bob Siciliano says a crackdown from Washington is a start, but fundamental changes are needed too for businesses to protect their data and for individuals to protect their personal info.
Within the next 10 to 15 years, that we're going to have to show some form of biometric identifier in order to make a financial transaction.
Biometric IDs mean iris scans of the eyes, facial or voice recognition, fingerprint scans, even ear canal recognition. There appears to be clear growth in that area. As for, uh, Washington, Schumer says hearings on all of this are going to take place very soon. My calls, by the way, to Westlaw today were not returned. Senator Schumer's office, they placed calls as well. Westlaw failed to answer them as well.
Oh gosh. Nanette, thank you. Big, big issue there. Nanette Hansen. Dennis Miller standing by now in his studio in Los Angeles to tell us what's coming up on the show tonight. Dennis, you heard that story about identity theft?
I'm as sad as you are. When they ratchet anything up from an epidemic to a pandemic, well, do we have any time left? Yeah. You know, Maria, you gotta protect yourself from these identity theft hackers. Now use my position. I use a computer once, then I shove some C4 plastic explosive into the disk drive and blow it to pieces. Then I gather the pieces in a potato sack, I charter a boat, I dump it in the middle of the ocean. Then, here's the key, I bludgeon the captain and anybody else on board with a thick pipe. I sink the boat, I scuba back to shore. It's expensive, but so is repairing your credit. Now tonight on our show— That is a solution.
It is not necessarily the solution, but it is a solution, Dennis.
