A high official of the Trump administration has demolished a plan that would have blocked data brokers from the sale of personal and financial information of the Americans, including social security numbers.
The Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) consumer declared in December 2024 expected to close a escapade pursuant to the Fair Credit Reporting Act, the federal law that protects the personal data of the Americans collected by consumer reporting agencies, such as credit offices and rents screening companies. The rule would have treated data brokers not unlike any other company covered by the federal law and would have requested them to comply with the privacy rules of the law.
The rule was withdrawn early on Tuesday, according to its list in the Federal Register. The interim director of the CFPB, Russell Vought, who is also director of the office for the management and the budget of the White House, wrote that the rule “is not aligned with the current interpretation of the Fair Credit Reporting Act Bureau”.
Wired for the first time he reported the change of rule on Wednesday.
Data brokers are part of a multimilionary industry of companies that profit from the collection and sale of access to large quantities of personal and financial information of the Americans. These personal data are therefore sold to other companies, as well as to the police and intelligence agencies, often without the explicit permission of individuals.
The collection of huge data banks also involves intrinsic risks. In the last year, at least two data brokers have been violated, paying millions of online social security numbers and exofeying a huge environmental data on the user’s position that monitored millions of people where they were.
Only in 2024, did the Federal Trade Commission prohibit several data brokers from collecting and sharing data on people without their permission, following accusations of illegally monitoring people.
Privacy supporters have long requested the government to use the credit reporting law to curb data brokers.
The CFPB decision to cancel the rule comes days after the Financial Technology Association, a group of lobbies in the sector that represents the non -banking companies, wrote to the vote in its role as director of the Budget of the White House. The lobby group asked the Administration to withdraw the CFPB rule, claiming that it would be “harmful to the efforts of the financial institutions to detect and prevent fraud”.
CFPB did not return a commentary request.
The description of the ALS is correct.
