ChoicePoint Working to Put Scandal Behind It

In August the police in Corona, Calif., got a surprising phone call. The caller said an auditor needed to examine the department’s facilities and take pictures inside.

To the security-conscious police, the photo demand seemed ridiculous, especially given its source: the data broker ChoicePoint Inc., one of the department’s information suppliers. A Corona crime analyst refused the request, and asked to speak to a ChoicePoint supervisor.

She never heard back.

The episode reveals the delicate balance ChoicePoint is trying to strike as it continues to recover from a staggering identity theft scandal in which con artists posing as legitimate customers accessed personal information on 145,000 Americans.

As it seeks to exhibit iron resolve against fraud, the recovering data giant is struggling not to alienate valuable customers in the process.

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