CFPB Proposes Crackdown on Data Brokers That Sell Sensitive Personal Information

The U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) today proposed a rule to regulate data brokers that sell sensitive personal and financial information, including Social Security numbers, phone numbers, and financial data such as income. These sales generate more than $250 billion a year. Under the proposed rule, companies would need separate, explicit authorization from consumers to share credit reports, rather than a blanket agreement that is buried in fine print. Bartlett Naylor, financial policy advocate for Public Citizen, released the following statement:

“All of us leave our financial fingerprints everywhere, every day, between credit card swipes, internet communications, and more. Thieves, loan sharks, stalkers, even foreign espionage agents can exploit gaping holes in credit reporting enforcement that the CFPB is rightly proposing to repair.

“Scammers use this data to prey on seniors, who lost more than $3.4 billion in 2023, an increase of 11% over the previous year. Stalkers can perpetrate violence, including one who murdered a judge’s son after purchasing her home address. Bad actors can even purchase individually identified information about active-duty military members’ income, net worth, and credit rating, as well as sensitive contact information, raising the possibility of coercion, blackmail, or espionage.

“A Republican led congressional committee investigated this last year, a reminder that this isn’t a partisan issue. No one should side with data predators.”