The Federal government may, once again, reach out to private companies — ChoicePoint and LexisNexis, the large data brokers, to verify personal information that the government needs but doesn’t have the means to gather. While the data brokers are under threat of restrictive legislation, the U.S. government is seeking their assistance in identity verification.

Congress is considering forcing states to use data brokers to help screen applicants for commercial driver’s licenses, a potentially lucrative development for an industry under scrutiny for how it handles personal information.

It would be an extremely dangerous, but not unjustifiable maneuver, for the Feds to retain use of the public record information while restricting public access.