US Consumer Financial Protection Agency Will Regulate Companies Tracking And Selling Public Personal Data

The US consumer financial protection agency will announce plans at the White House on Tuesday 15 August to regulate companies tracking and selling public personal data, as part of a growing scrutiny by the Joe Biden administration of the industry's privacy practices.

Data brokerage behavior can be "especially worrying" as sensitive data encouraging the use of artificial intelligence can be collected from military personnel, people experiencing dementia, and others, according to Rohit Chopra, director of the US Consumer Finance Protection Bureau.

"CFPB will take steps to ensure that current data brokers in the surveillance industry know they cannot engage in our data collection and sharing illegally," Chopra said in a statement.

President Joe Biden last year asked the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to help protect data privacy for women seeking reproductive health care and possibly facing law enforcement measures in several states.

The FTC has also sued companies in Idaho for selling cell phone geolocation data, citing that the data can be traced to places such as abortion clinics, churches, and addiction treatment centers.

Prior to Tuesday's announcement, CFPB officials said the proposal would expand the number of companies currently subject to the Fair Credit Reporting Act -- the 1970 law governing the privacy of consumer data provided to lenders -- to include data usage originating from payment history, personal income, and criminal records.

Special concern, officials say, is the disclosure of "credit header data," or personal data such as name, address, and social security security security security numbers shared by top three credit bureaus, Exprian, TransUnion, and Equifax, for people, some of whom may be trying to avoid contact, such as victims of domestic violence.

The CFPB in March opened a public investigation into the company's behavior, such as credit bureaus and background research firms.

According to the agency's official, the results show that data brokers report consumers in financial difficulties to companies that then target them with harmful debt products, among other findings showing the need for greater privacy protection.