A division of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce is pushing back against the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau following reports regarding the agency’s collection and use of “big data.”
The data collection has been contested by large banks, congressmen and trade organizations, in addition to a Bloomberg News report in April indicating the CFPB would spend $20 million toward the data collection effort, including the purchase of anonymous consumer data from national service providers, the likes of which include Experian for its credit card information.
“The Bureau’s lack of transparency around its data collection efforts makes it very difficult to evaluate the prudence and the legality of the collection
process; the strength of the security measures the Bureau is taking to protect consumers’ data; the extent to which personally identifiable information is being collected, stored, analyzed, or shared…” writes David Hirschmann, president and CEO of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Center for Capital Markets Competitiveness in a letter to CFPB director Richard Cordray.
Hirschmann goes on to note the possible violation of limits on the Bureau’s authority under Dodd-Frank of the data collection and use, citing the statute’s requirement that the Bureau issue an order or regulation in order to collect the information; and the restriction of the Bureau’s ability to collect consumers’ personally identifiable data without appropriate safeguards.
Written by Elizabeth Ecker
