wildercb/PrivacyTextBooks1.2 · Datasets at Hugging Face

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Among other things, ChoicePoint provided organizations with
background check services for use in hiring. It stored the name, address,
Social Security Number, driver’s license number, credit report, and other
information on virtually every adult in the United States.
Individuals, however, had no idea that ChoicePoint was gathering and
selling all this data about them. ChoicePoint wasn’t the only company doing
this. In fact, many companies were engaged in this activity, and companies
are still doing it today. This type of data aggregation and analytics is now
referred to as “Big Data.” Back in 2005, the activities of companies such as
ChoicePoint weren’t well known to most people.
The fraudsters in the ChoicePoint breach walked right in the front door.
They pretended to be a legitimate business, which signed on as a client. The
fraudsters were able to obtain personal data on approximately 162,000
people. The criminals then used the data for identity theft. At least 750
individuals suffered identity theft that was traced back to this breach.2
By today’s standards, this breach was tiny; it pales in comparison to
Yahoo’s breach of more than one billion people or to other breaches with
hundreds of millions of people. Yet, in 2005, when the breach was
announced, it was a gargantuan story. At the time, the ACLU stated that the
breach “may have been the biggest release of personal information to data
thieves ever.”3
The story captivated the media. Far from a fleeting headline, the
ChoicePoint breach was the story that wouldn’t go away. Unlike most news
stories in this century, it lingered in the media for months. Why was this
breach different? There had been countless other breaches before
ChoicePoint, so why all the fuss?
The reason was because of a unique and innovative law that California
passed in 2003.4 The law required public and private organizations to notify
Californians when the “unauthorized acquisition of computerized data”
compromises “personal information maintained by the person or business.”5
The law didn’t specify a deadline to notify people; organizations had to act
without “undue delay.”6
Prior to the California law, most breaches were dirt swept under the rug.
They were certainly occurring, but they were ugly secrets whispered in the
corridors. Why would a company publicly announce it had lost control over
peoples’ data if it didn’t have to?
With California’s law, for the first time the dirty laundry was starting to
be hung out in public. The ChoicePoint breach angered people because it
was not just about security; it was also about privacy. A company they
hadn’t heard of was collecting their data. People were upset they didn’t
know about it. They were upset because there was no benefit to them by
ChoicePoint’s collection of their data. All this was on top of the fact that the
breach led to their data being in the hands of fraudsters. People were
outraged.
ChoicePoint sent the initial breach notification letter just to the 35,000
California residents who were affected. Only California residents had been
notified because California was the only state that required it.7 Soon after,
the Attorneys General from 19 other states began to clamor for their
citizens to also be notified. They sent a letter to ChoicePoint demanding
that every victim be notified.8 Facing increasing criticism, ChoicePoint
notified all affected individuals. In the month following the disclosure of
the ChoicePoint breach, four major companies disclosed data breaches,
including Bank of America.9
The Dramatic Rise of Breach Notification Laws
Breach notification has been the fastest growing and trendiest type of data
security law. These laws continue to spread around the world. The laws
have been evolving to include more types of personal data and to shorten
the time organizations have to report data breaches and notify affected
individuals.
Soon after the ChoicePoint breach, breach notification laws started
sprouting up in other states. Every state wanted in on the action. By the end
of 2005, 20 states and Puerto Rico had passed their own data breach laws,
modeled largely on California’s law.10 By the end of 2006, more states
passed data breach notification legislation, bringing the total to 33 states.11
By the end of 2008, all but six states had passed data breach notification
laws, with the rest gradually adopting laws at the rate of approximately one
per year. In 2018, Alabama and South Dakota became the last two states to
pass breach notification laws. Thus, within the span of 15 years, all 50
states, the District of Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands
passed breach notification laws.
This is truly a remarkable development. It is rare that all states reach a
consensus about the need for a particular type of law, and it is quite
amazing that they all managed to pass legislation in such a short span of
time.
At the federal level, there was considerable talk about passing a breach
notification law, but Congress has been gridlocked in partisan bickering for
much of the time since 2000. During a brief window of legislative activity
when the Democrats controlled both houses of Congress in 2009, a breach
notification requirement was passed as part of the HITECH Act (which was
part of the law known as Obamacare). The U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services, pursuant to the HITECH Act, promulgated the HIPAA
Breach Notification Rule on January 25, 2013.12 This was the first federal
breach notification requirement, though it only applied to health data
regulated by HIPAA. Had Congress not been so broken in the early 21st
century, it likely would have passed a broader federal breach notification
law.
Breach notification also has proven to be quite popular abroad. Unlike
many types of U.S. privacy and security laws, which are viewed by much of
the world as weak and incoherent, countries have eagerly sought to emulate
the United States in breach notification. The EU incorporated breach
notification as part of its major privacy legislation—the General Data
Protection Regulation (GDPR).
Breach notification has been a huge hit. Mandated disclosure laws like
this one are popular at least in part because they don’t eat up a lot of
resources for enforcement, and they relieve lawmakers from making some
difficult case-by-case decisions.13 You have probably received quite a few
data breach notification letters. If you haven’t, then you might want to call
the Guinness Book of World Records for being the only human alive not to
have received a breach letter. In case you haven’t received such a letter—or
more likely haven’t read any of these letters—here’s a brief overview of

Among other things, ChoicePoint provided organizations with

background check services for use in hiring. It stored the name, address,

Social Security Number, driver’s license number, credit report, and other

information on virtually every adult in the United States.

Individuals, however, had no idea that ChoicePoint was gathering and

selling all this data about them. ChoicePoint wasn’t the only company doing

this. In fact, many companies were engaged in this activity, and companies

are still doing it today. This type of data aggregation and analytics is now

referred to as “Big Data.” Back in 2005, the activities of companies such as

ChoicePoint weren’t well known to most people.

The fraudsters in the ChoicePoint breach walked right in the front door.

They pretended to be a legitimate business, which signed on as a client. The

fraudsters were able to obtain personal data on approximately 162,000

people. The criminals then used the data for identity theft. At least 750

individuals suffered identity theft that was traced back to this breach.2

By today’s standards, this breach was tiny; it pales in comparison to

Yahoo’s breach of more than one billion people or to other breaches with

hundreds of millions of people. Yet, in 2005, when the breach was

announced, it was a gargantuan story. At the time, the ACLU stated that the

breach “may have been the biggest release of personal information to data

thieves ever.”3

The story captivated the media. Far from a fleeting headline, the

ChoicePoint breach was the story that wouldn’t go away. Unlike most news

stories in this century, it lingered in the media for months. Why was this

breach different? There had been countless other breaches before

ChoicePoint, so why all the fuss?

The reason was because of a unique and innovative law that California

passed in 2003.4 The law required public and private organizations to notify

Californians when the “unauthorized acquisition of computerized data”

compromises “personal information maintained by the person or business.”5

The law didn’t specify a deadline to notify people; organizations had to act

without “undue delay.”6

Prior to the California law, most breaches were dirt swept under the rug.

They were certainly occurring, but they were ugly secrets whispered in the

corridors. Why would a company publicly announce it had lost control over

peoples’ data if it didn’t have to?

With California’s law, for the first time the dirty laundry was starting to

be hung out in public. The ChoicePoint breach angered people because it

was not just about security; it was also about privacy. A company they

hadn’t heard of was collecting their data. People were upset they didn’t

know about it. They were upset because there was no benefit to them by

ChoicePoint’s collection of their data. All this was on top of the fact that the

breach led to their data being in the hands of fraudsters. People were

outraged.

ChoicePoint sent the initial breach notification letter just to the 35,000

California residents who were affected. Only California residents had been

notified because California was the only state that required it.7 Soon after,

the Attorneys General from 19 other states began to clamor for their

citizens to also be notified. They sent a letter to ChoicePoint demanding

that every victim be notified.8 Facing increasing criticism, ChoicePoint

notified all affected individuals. In the month following the disclosure of

the ChoicePoint breach, four major companies disclosed data breaches,

including Bank of America.9

The Dramatic Rise of Breach Notification Laws

Breach notification has been the fastest growing and trendiest type of data

security law. These laws continue to spread around the world. The laws

have been evolving to include more types of personal data and to shorten

the time organizations have to report data breaches and notify affected

individuals.

Soon after the ChoicePoint breach, breach notification laws started

sprouting up in other states. Every state wanted in on the action. By the end

of 2005, 20 states and Puerto Rico had passed their own data breach laws,

modeled largely on California’s law.10 By the end of 2006, more states

passed data breach notification legislation, bringing the total to 33 states.11

By the end of 2008, all but six states had passed data breach notification

laws, with the rest gradually adopting laws at the rate of approximately one

per year. In 2018, Alabama and South Dakota became the last two states to

pass breach notification laws. Thus, within the span of 15 years, all 50

states, the District of Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands

passed breach notification laws.

This is truly a remarkable development. It is rare that all states reach a

consensus about the need for a particular type of law, and it is quite

amazing that they all managed to pass legislation in such a short span of

time.

At the federal level, there was considerable talk about passing a breach

notification law, but Congress has been gridlocked in partisan bickering for

much of the time since 2000. During a brief window of legislative activity

when the Democrats controlled both houses of Congress in 2009, a breach

notification requirement was passed as part of the HITECH Act (which was

part of the law known as Obamacare). The U.S. Department of Health and

Human Services, pursuant to the HITECH Act, promulgated the HIPAA

Breach Notification Rule on January 25, 2013.12 This was the first federal

breach notification requirement, though it only applied to health data

regulated by HIPAA. Had Congress not been so broken in the early 21st

century, it likely would have passed a broader federal breach notification

law.

Breach notification also has proven to be quite popular abroad. Unlike

many types of U.S. privacy and security laws, which are viewed by much of

the world as weak and incoherent, countries have eagerly sought to emulate

the United States in breach notification. The EU incorporated breach

notification as part of its major privacy legislation—the General Data

Protection Regulation (GDPR).

Breach notification has been a huge hit. Mandated disclosure laws like

this one are popular at least in part because they don’t eat up a lot of

resources for enforcement, and they relieve lawmakers from making some

difficult case-by-case decisions.13 You have probably received quite a few

data breach notification letters. If you haven’t, then you might want to call

the Guinness Book of World Records for being the only human alive not to

have received a breach letter. In case you haven’t received such a letter—or

more likely haven’t read any of these letters—here’s a brief overview of