For awhile now, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has been scrutinizing the role and responsibilities of data brokers in collecting and selling consumers’ personal data. In a message at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy this week, CFPB Director Rohit Chopra said that a proposed rule to provide greater oversight of third-party personal data collectors is on its way. The CFPB will propose to use the Fair Credit Reporting Act to clean up some data broker practices. According to the director, the Bureau is considering categorizing certain data brokers, that collect and sell a consumer’s personal information, as a “consumer reporting agency” under the FCRA.
In his prepared remarks, the director noted the current state of “intrusive surveillance and aggregation of personal data,” that pose risks to safety and national security, including for military members. He stressed the importance of updating and enforcing data protection rules to provide better safeguards and to ensure greater accountability by businesses that track, collect and monetize people’s personal information.
A year ago, in March 2023, the bureau launched a public request for information on data broker practices. And again in August 2023, Director Chopra spoke at a White House roundtable on protecting Americans from harmful data broker conduct.
