WASHINGTON – The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) hit data broker ChoicePoint with a $15 million penalty Thursday for failing to adequately protect the consumer information in its databases. The Atlanta-based ChoicePoint agreed to pay a $10 million fine — the largest in FTC history — and to establish a $5 million consumer restitution fund. “The message to ChoicePoint and others should be clear: Consumers’ private data must be protected from thieves,” said FTC Commissioner Deborah Platt Majoris.

Perhaps next on the FTC hit list is HSBC North America, a division of London-based HSBC Holdings PLC. HSBC notified holders of the HSBC-issued, General Motors-branded MasterCard that criminals may have obtained access to their credit card information and that the cards should be replaced. HSBC spokesman Stephen E. Cohen said in April 2005 that “we began doing it last week, and we are continuing.” He said that about 180,000 GM-branded card holders are affected.

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