More U.S. customer data stolen

After the ChoicePoint case, another large scale data theft has been uncovered in the United States.

As Yahoo and slashdot report, approximately 32,000 U.S. citizens' profiles have been stolen from LexisNexis subsidiary Seisint. Apparently, the information accessed includes names, addresses, social security numbers and driver's license information -- but not credit histories, medical records or financial information.

It is likely that this new incidence of (potential) identity theft will increase the propensity of the political system to take counter measures. As reported in a previous entry of this blog, members of the Senate have already reacted to this and plan to hold hearings. Florida Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson has introduced a bill that would impose tougher regulations on the data industry.

The accumulation of problems in this area might create a policy window for tightening regulation -- but that remains speculation at this point.