Market punishes ChoicePoint for data theft, stock falls [priv]

[Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>]

ChoicePoint hovered between $45 and $46 on Feb. 17; it closed Wednesday 
at $41.22:
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=CPS&t=5d&l=off&z=m&q=l&c=

And this NYT article coming out on Thursday can't help:
http://nytimes.com/2005/02/24/business/24datas.html?hp&ex=1109307600&en=76a721a6a0ec4195&ei=5094&partner=homepage
"The recently disclosed privacy breach at the data collection giant 
ChoicePoint, in which con artists gained access to the Social Security 
numbers, addresses and other personal data of nearly 145,000 people, has 
exposed the shortcomings of the laws governing the data-mining industry 
and consumer privacy."

Though to be fair, an alternate explanation is that investors are 
worried about the possibility of new regulations curbing ChoicePoint's 
business model (and future profitability).

-Declan

---

http://www.freep.com/money/business/choice23e_20050223.htm

ChoicePoint stock falls after data theft
February 23, 2005
BY HARRY R. WEBER
ASSOCIATED PRESS
ATLANTA -- Data warehouser ChoicePoint Inc.'s stock fell more than 9 
percent Tuesday after a breach of company records that could affect more 
than 140,000 Americans sparked predictions of tougher regulation for the 
data-brokering industry...
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