March 21, 2005
A consumer group says the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is too closely aligned with business interests in its probe of ChoicePoint and other data aggregators and warns that the FTC may be to blame for the growing incidence of identity theft.
The Electronic Privacy Information Center heads a coalition of privacy and consumer groups urging the U.S. government to adopt a more consumer-friendly position in protecting consumers' interests in the marketing of personal data.
In a letter to FTC Chairman Deborah Platt Majoras, the group said her recent testimony before the House Energy and Commerce Committee was "not well informed" and too closely reflected the opinions of the companies that testified at the hearing, at the expense of consumers.
"As Chair of the Federal Trade Commission, you have the responsibility to protect the interests of American consumers, not the narrow political interests of companies such as ChoicePoint that are already in the midst of multiple federal and state investigations. Your apparent alignment with the businesses that are the target of Congressional investigation is distressing," the letter said.
The letter also made the charge that the agency had erred when it allowed ChoicePoint and other data brokers to police themselves, saying it was an invitation for abuse. It said the government should not be allowing the sale of "credit headers" without privacy protections.
"The Federal Trade Commission itself may be responsible for the growing problem of identity theft and the failure to establish adequate regulation of data brokers such as ChoicePoint," the groups charged.
EPIC and the other groups say the FTC should give consumers more power over the use of their financial data, such as establishing a single "opt-in or opt-out registry," similar to the national Do Not Call list. The groups also say the FTC should be doing a better job of protecting consumers' interests when it comes to their private, financial data.
"The FTC has a long way to come on these issues to adequately represent the public interest in this matter," the letter stated.
