10/04/2023

New CFPB Rules Are Coming for Data Brokers

Faegre Drinker

At a Glance

• A data broker’s sale of data relating to a consumer’s payment history, income and criminal records would generally fall within the scope of a “consumer report” according to FCRA. 
• A second proposal will clarify the extent to which credit header data constitutes a consumer report. This includes individual identifiers like name, date of birth, and Social Security number that data brokers often pull from traditional credit reporting agencies. 
• A key outstanding question for the forthcoming rules is how broadly “data broker” will be defined.

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The director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) recently announced that the agency will be developing new rules defining a data broker that sells certain types of consumer data as a “consumer reporting agency” under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). The announcement, which was delivered at a White House Roundtable on Protecting Americans From Harmful Data Broker Practices, is designed “to ensure that modern-day data companies assembling profiles about individuals are meeting the requirements of FCRA.”

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