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Government Surveillance, Privacy & Data

CDT Joins Coalition in Urging CFPB to Protect Consumers’ Financial Privacy

Today, the Center for Democracy & Technology (CDT) joins a coalition of civil society organizations, led by Just Futures Law, urging the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to further protect consumers’ #Privacy over financial data.

For too long, the data broker industry has been allowed to buy & sell private, personal financial data about billions of consumers. The data is used in a variety of ways, including by law enforcement / immigration agencies to overpolice or deport people of color.

The letter calls on the CFPB to wield its regulatory and enforcement authority under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) to:

  1. Bring enforcement actions against data brokers already determined to be in violation of FCRA, and
  2. Revise its rules to ensure that data brokers are considered “consumer reporting agencies” under FCRA when they sell data that should be considered a “consumer report.”

Specifically, CFPB should issue an advisory opinion clarifying that “credit header” data (name, address, birth date, social security number, telephone number, other data) is not exempt from FCRA, as industry has erroneously interpreted. CFPB can limit these abuses & it should as soon as possible.

Read the full letter and list of signatories here.