STATEMENT: CFPB reins in sale of Americans’ data

Proposed rule boosts consumers’ online security, regulates data brokers

BOSTON – The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) released its proposed rule on Tuesday to rein in data brokers, the third party companies that collect and sell the personal information of Americans. 

There are more than 500 data brokers registered in the United States. Data brokers collect information about individuals using public records, web cookies that monitor consumers’ online browsing history, or by buying data from other third parties. They resell this information to other companies. One data broker told the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) it has 3,000 data points “for nearly every U.S. consumer.”

This rule would require data brokers selling sensitive information about consumers to follow the guidelines for credit reporting agencies in the Fair Credit Reporting Act, including limiting the use of information for permissible purposes only, such as when making a lending decision. 

In response, PIRG’s Don’t Sell My Data Campaign Director R.J. Cross issued the following statement:

“This rule finally gives Americans more control over their own data and will help protect them from online scammers. 

“You may have never heard of data brokers, but they almost certainly know about you. The more your data is collected and sold by companies, the more likely it is that your information will end up exposed in a breach or a hack. That makes you more likely to become the victim of identity theft or highly-targeted scams. 

“The shadowy data selling industry has gone largely unregulated for far too long. I applaud the CFPB for taking consumer privacy seriously.”