Senate Panel Postpones Exec's Appearance

By JEFFREY McMURRAY
Associated Press Writer
Friday, March 11, 2005

Floor votes postponed until next week ChoicePoint's chance to rebut Senate criticism that the company's failure to know its own customers exposed thousands of them to identity theft.

The Senate Banking Committee had expected to hear from executives of ChoicePoint Inc. on Thursday. The Alpharetta, Ga.-based data broker announced last month private information from as many as 145,000 Americans may have been compromised.

Bank of America, which lost computer data tapes containing personal information on 1.2 million federal employees, also was expected to testify.

After listening to nearly two hours of testimony on identity theft, twice delaying the proceedings to allow senators to go to the floor for votes, Chairman Richard Shelby, R-Ala., finally adjourned the hearing and asked the two companies' representatives to return next week.

In written testimony prepared for the hearing, Don McGuffey, ChoicePoint's vice president of acquisition and strategy, apologized to the victims — almost a quarter of whom are Californians — and assured lawmakers the company had made great strides to prevent a future breach.

Two Democratic senators, Charles Schumer of New York and Patrick Leahy of Vermont, called for new legislation cracking down on careless housing of sensitive information. Leahy said his plan would include "penalty options."

"This company failed to know its own customers," Leahy said of ChoicePoint. "It was an irresponsible violation of the fiduciary responsibility they have to their customers."