WASHINGTON, D.C.— Brady Williams, Legal Counsel, issued the following statement on the deadline for submitting comments on the Data Broker Rule proposed by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). The rule is now on hold because of the Trump administration’s halt on rulemaking:

“All too often, shoddy data brokers sell our most sensitive personal information without our knowledge or consent, monetizing our identities, invading our privacy, and enabling scammers and predators to commit identity theft and prey on consumers.  In December 2024, the CFPB, under former Director Rohit Chopra, proposed a rule to address these abuses by subjecting data brokers to the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA).  The proposed rule would have limited the sale of personal identifiers like social security numbers and phone numbers, and it would have ensured that people’s financial data such as income is only shared for legitimate purposes, such as facilitating a mortgage approval, rather than sold to scammers.

“But the rule is now on hold because the Trump administration has completely shut down the CFPB, including all rulemaking activity and all enforcement cases.  That means, for now at least, no more safeguards and no more accountability for the financial predators, from brand-name banks to payday lenders who prey on hardworking Americans every day.  The administration took this profoundly misguided action notwithstanding a mountain of evidence showing that the CFPB has served as one of the most effective consumer protection agencies in the history of financial regulation.  Through its rules and enforcement actions, the CFPB has shielded consumers from all sorts of predatory and abusive financial practices and recovered over $20 billion dollars for the benefit of victims.

“Today marks the deadline for the public to submit comments on the proposed data broker rule, but that date is now meaningless. Instead of submitting comments on a valuable consumer protection rule, we highlight this example of the real damage being done by the shuttering of the CFPB and we mourn the loss of an important shield against consumer abuse.”

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