35
votes
US consumer protection agency announces plans to regulate sale of personal data
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- Authors
- JP Leskovich | U. Pittsburgh School of Law, US
- Published
- Aug 16 2023
- Word count
- 354 words
Not to be a cynic just for the sake of it, but this seems rather pointless. It does seem to be creating more accountability for data brokers, which is a good thing, though I don't really know what the landscape of data brokerage looks like so I don't know who this impacts or how widespread the impact will be, but a lot of the big tech companies aren't explicitly even selling the data or acting as data brokers. They're not selling data in that case, but they're housing the data and selling their capabilities of connecting interested parties to you based on the personal data they've collected.
Now the CFPB may have no ability to act beyond this, I don't know what the full extent of their authority is, but the data being collected and stored to begin with is where the problem starts and that's where regulation needs to take place.
I was hoping for this kind of feedback. Sen Warren did a good thing in the financial sector by pushing for the CFPB to be created, but data regulation is kind of a stretch from their usual territory. They may not have the kind of specific knowledge needed to write the most effective rules providing the most benefit to consumers and the public.
Yeah I don't mean to make it seem like the CFPB is a bad agency or anything because I don't view this action as very effective, problems are relative. In a world where data collection is more regulated and oriented towards protecting consumers, data brokerage could seem like a bigger problem if left unregulated. Furthermore I realize that one agency taking action over areas they have authority in to the extent that they can is potentially worth applauding that agency for even if it's not necessarily going to make a huge difference, it's not like we can fault them for the problems of other agencies or congress itself.
Further to that point I will also say that comparing data brokers to Equifax, TransUnion, Experian etc. doesn't really inspire a lot of confidence in me as a consumer. As far as how those consumer reporting agencies work, while they may be more accountable than these other data brokers being targeted now, those companies inspire no confidence in me that we've created a system where consumers data is being used appropriately or stored adequately. If that's the standard we're trying to achieve with other data brokers, then we're setting our standards way too low.
I did find this link looking up more about their role and it is apparently part of a wider government effort to address potential issues around AI.
https://www.consumerfinance.gov/about-us/newsroom/remarks-of-cfpb-director-rohit-chopra-at-white-house-roundtable-on-protecting-americans-from-harmful-data-broker-practices/
Which on the one hand says there could be more coming out and this is just a small portion of the solutions that will be coming about, which could provide hope that there are other agencies and solutions than just targeting data brokers. It does seem that with it being primarily focused around AI and the fact that there's seemingly not been a lot of movement in protecting consumers data prior to this, that it probably won't take a whole new approach to protecting consumers data but rather only viewing it through the lens of potential new dangers that AI might introduce.