Attorney General's News Release

May 1, 2008

Nixon obtains court order to stop Texas-based Web site from selling personal information of Missourians

Kansas City, Mo. - A Web site that permits anyone with a credit card to purchase detailed personal information about consumers - including Social Security numbers - has been prohibited from selling such information about Missourians or allowing consumers to search its database using Missourians' Social Security numbers under a temporary restraining order obtained by Attorney General Jay Nixon. Jackson County Circuit Judge Sandra Midkiff signed the order today against A1Peoplesearch, LLC of Granbury, Texas, which does business as www.a1peoplesearch.com.

Nixon filed a lawsuit against the defendant on April 23, citing the Web site's practice of providing access to such personal information as Social Security numbers, addresses, dates of birth and criminal records to anyone with a credit card. Access to Social Security numbers can be purchased for as little as 97 cents per number, Nixon said. Today's court order requires A1Peoplesearch to disable its Web site to the extent that it allows searches by, or retrieval of, Missourians' Social Security numbers.

"Web sites such as this one are simply a gold mine for identity thieves, as making personal information so conveniently available for a pittance is just too enticing to scam artists," Nixon said. "We have a duty to protect Missouri consumers from the consequences of such a reckless practice, and today's court order is another step toward doing so."

Nixon says that both the U.S. Congress and Missouri General Assembly have passed measures to protect the driving records and personal information of Missourians. The Federal Driver Privacy Protection Act (DPPA), passed in 1994, and its state counterparts allow individuals and businesses to obtain information contained in an individual's driving record, but only for certain uses specified in law.

Anyone who provides this information to third parties is obligated under federal law to ensure that the third party's use of the information is for a legitimate purpose allowed under the law.

"Identity theft is obviously not one of those legitimate purposes, and A1Peoplesearch unethically has failed to properly verify the use to which its subscribers put the data it sold to them," Nixon said. "We will not allow the physical and financial security of Missourians to be compromised by Web sites like A1Peoplesearch."

Nixon's lawsuit is also seeking to have the operator of A1Peoplesearch fined a significant sum for each violation of Missouri consumer protection laws.

Today's court order is the second time in the past three months that Nixon has taken action against a Web site that sells the personal information of Missourians. The Attorney General filed a lawsuit February 20 against Publicdata.com, another Texas company that had been selling such personal information as Social Security numbers, addresses, birthdays and physical descriptions of Missouri consumers at a cost of $9.95. That lawsuit, filed in Jackson County Circuit Court, is pending.

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