| 1- Script
of Recording
Identity Theft: An
Incurable Virus
By Gary Rivlin
Adapted From The New York Times
March 18, 2005
On Feb. 18, 2005, Warren Lambert 67, received a
letter conveying alarming news from ChoicePoint, an information
broker company that collects data on millions of citizens. It was
one of more than 140,000 such letters ChoicePoint has mailed in
recent weeks, informing people like him that computer files containing
their names, addresses, Social Security numbers, driving and credit
records, real estate sales data, mortgage borrowing levels, political
affiliation or other matters of public record had been inadvertently
sold to hackers posing as legitimate business customers.
Warren Lambert called an identity-theft hot line which advised him
to phone credit-reporting agencies to find out whether any credit
card accounts had been opened in his name and to place a "fraud
alert" on his accounts to warn potential creditors not to open
additional accounts without full verification. But he also needed
to understand that this privacy breach was similar to an incurable
virus - a chronic condition he would need to monitor for the rest
of his life.
Tens of thousands of others may be exposed to the same trouble as
a result of recently disclosed leaks of personal data from ChoicePoint,
LexisNexis and possibly Bank of America. The Federal Trade Commission
estimates 3.2 million Americans are victims of identity theft each
year- they suffer financial losses, are hounded by bill collectors
seeking payment for fraudulent bank loans or even are charged with
crimes as a result of someone else's assuming their identities.
Sophisticated criminals target the trove of personal files that
data compilers like ChoicePoint and LexisNexis have amassed on millions
of citizens. The consumer backlash from this recent spate of database
security lapses has brought unflattering publicity to an industry
that had grown up quietly over the past decade. A thin patchwork
of laws and regulations mainly let data compilers police themselves.
But lawmakers are calling for tighter controls and consumer safeguards.
The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee is investigating the issue,
and legislators have introduced bills in Congress that call for
the banning of the sale of Social Security numbers, and increased
regulation of data companies.
So far, Europe has been spared large-scale incidents. That, some
say, is because Europe has stricter privacy laws that prohibit the
commercial sale of personal data by for-profit databases. But others
point there are no EU laws requiring companies to report data breaches
which may be understated.
394 words
End of Recording
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2- Opinion Question :
Explain the issues involved in "the commercial
sale of personal data by for-profit databases."
(Length : 350 to 400 Words.Writing a shorter or longer essay will
be counted against you.)
 Recordings
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Identity
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Identity
Theft: An Incurable Virus
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