Watching the watchdog
|
|
May 14, 2013 |
By U.S. Senator Mike Crapo
As part of our government’s system of checks and
balances, Congress conducts oversight over
agencies to bring about transparency and
accountability. This is even more necessary with
the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB),
which was established unlike any other federal
department or agency.
Unlike most federal agencies, it does not have
to justify its actions or expenditures and the
director holds unique power to determine the
agency’s budget and mission priorities without
any public debate or input from Congress.
As the Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on
Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, I recently
participated in a hearing to gain insight into
agency actions, including looking into the
bureau’s wide-spread data collection of
citizens’ financial information.
This was timely since the bureau was evasive in
its responses to questions submitted in March
about this data collection. For example, I asked
how many consumer accounts the CFPB is
monitoring and the agency refused to disclose
that information.
This lack of transparency of what the agency is
doing and how it intends to use this personal
financial data is troubling and warrants answers
in a public forum.
I learned through news reports that the bureau
recently launched a massive data collection
effort on consumer spending. The reports
indicated that the CFPB has allocated more than
$20 million for collecting and tracking spending
habits of more than 10 million Americans.
The size of this data collection and the amount
of money being spent by the agency are a cause
of concern for me, and should be for those
Americans with credit cards, checking and other
financial accounts.
At a recent hearing, I asked the President’s
nominee to head the bureau whether the federal
government would allow consumers to opt out of
this data collection, only to learn that such
opt-outs are not available to citizens.
The bureau was founded with a mission to watch
out for American consumers, not to watch them.
The law that established the CFPB expressly
prohibits gathering or analyzing the personally
identifiable financial information of consumers.
While CFPB officials have stated the bureau is
not collecting personally identifiable
information, they have not disclosed or provided
examples of the type of data being collected.
In order to get more answers, I have requested
that the bureau provide information to the
Senate Banking Committee on what kind of data is
being collected and how will it be used.
Because the CFPB’s Inspector General has already
identified data security issues at the bureau, I
have questioned the bureau about how consumers
can be assured that their information is indeed
safe. In addition, we need to know what
safeguards are in place to prevent the use of
the data to determine personally identifiable
information.
For consumers who do not want this information
being collected, they should have the
opportunity to opt out of this database.
More than a decade ago, Congress required
financial institutions to provide opt-outs to
consumers who prefer not to participate in
sharing of their financial information. The
federal government should be held to the same
standard.
This data collection effort by the CFPB is just
the latest example of how government agencies
can operate in murky waters absent proper
congressional oversight.
I will continue to push for structural changes
to the CFPB to bring about transparency,
openness and accountability. Moreover, we must
eliminate government bureaucracy that stifles
private sector innovation and does not provide
any public benefits.
I will continue to seek answers to these and
other concerns and press for needed reforms so
that federal agencies do what they are designed
to do—help, not hinder, Americans.
|
|
Questions or comments about this
article?
Click here to e-mail! |
|
|
|
|
