NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - ChoicePoint is changing the way it shares sensitive electronic data in an effort to avoid incidents of security breach that may lead to identity theft, according to a report published Friday.

The Wall Street Journal reported that ChoicePoint (Research), the national provider of identification and credential verification services, will electronically mask sensitive information such as Social Security numbers in its reports and background checks provided to companies on new employees.

The company is also taking steps to severely reduce its business in providing data to private investigators, collection agencies and some small financial concerns, the newspaper said.

Among them, the company said it will restrict the type of information provided to certain small business clients , including private investigators and collection agencies, the newspaper said.

Those customers and "non-bank" financial institutions, such as check-cashing concerns, will no longer have access to reports containing an individual's full Social Security number and similar sensitive information, the report said.

James Lee, the company's chief marketing officer, told the Journal that ChoicePoint expects the changes will make its offerings far less attractive to that market and will likely cost the company $15 to $20 million in annual revenue, or about 2 percent of its annual sales. (See correction.)

The Journal said the moves come in the wake of thehigh-profile breach at ChoicePoint earlier this year in which criminals posed as legitimate small businesses to illegally obtain data.

The breach has heightened concerns about identity theft -- in which an individual's personal information is used to fraudulently open credit-card accounts or apply for loans -- and helped spur congressional hearings into whether further laws are needed to protect sensitive personal data, the report said.

Additionally, ChoicePoint said it has begun providing free annual copies to consumers of its "personal public records" searches, even though the company said it is not yet required by law to do so, the newspaper said.

"We believe that individuals should be able to see the information that's available about them," Lee was quoted as saying.

Correction: An earlier version of this story overstated the impact of the changes on the company's annual sales. CNN/Money regrets the error. (Return to story.)