CardSystem's May Be Forced to Shut Down

Anyone feel sorry for these guys? CardSystems, the company that exposed 40 million consumer records to identity theft, may be forced to shut down after Visa and American Express announced they were canceling their contracts. Their CEO is whining to Congress that Visa and AmEx are ignoring the efforts CardSystems is putting in to correct the problem. I applaud Visa and AmEx in their reaction to this lapse in security by CardSystems. CardSystems shutting down is an example of the marketplace cleansing itself.

What Congress needs to do is get tough on these guys (so when the marketplace doesn't respond, consumers have something to fight back with). There needs to be specific legislation with teeth passed and signed into law that will regulate these data firms. The onus should be on them to protect the data they store (and to only store data they're supposed to). If they can't do that, they shouldn't be in the business. The CEOs and other top execs and the companies money need to be on the line for any such legislation to work. Send the CEOs to prison and take the companies money. That will stop this kind of data loss very quickly.

Internet News: CardSystems May Close Doors

Tags: cardsystems, card systems, visa, amex, congress, identity theft, security