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http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0030/harkavy.php

The Prying Game

Hillary Clinton, who has so far rarely granted interviews in the Senate race and has stoutly defended her family's privacy, would face some tough decisions in Congress regarding the ever increasing electronic snooping into Americans' business by private companies collecting data. But as a former board member of Wal-Mart and hobnobber with corporate types, she's already friendly with Acxiom Corporation, referred to recently as "the largest data-mining company in America." Its executives have been heavy supporters of Democrats, including Bill Clinton.

Acxiom, based in Little Rock, does nearly $1 billion worth of business a year by performing such tasks as purchasing information about unwitting consumers and selling it to debt collectors and other businesses. Last month, however, the Federal Trade Commission issued regulations cracking down on the trade in such data. "Congress simply said that it's time for consumers to regain some control over their personal financial information," an FTC spokesman was quoted as saying.

In the area of corporate welfare, Acxiom is still out of control. Last spring, according to press reports, municipal officials in Little Rock agreed to finance a $36 million bond issue to help this wealthy company build an office tower. As part of the deal, Acxiom won't pay property taxes on the building for 30 years.

Thanks in some measure to such public largesse, the company's doing great. Acxiom's PAC gave Hillary $5000 on May 8, and company official Charles D. Morgan Jr. chipped in $250 of his own the same day. And last February, the company dumped $20,000 of soft money into two Democratic congressional campaign committees.