Can the CFPB stop your data from being sold?

Data security is a big issue, dare I say one of the biggest issues for any person on the Internet. If you're concerned about protecting your data, you will want to pay attention to this story. 

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is trying to propose a new rule that may help you. 

According to ConsumerFinance.Gov,
‘The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) today proposed a rule to rein in data brokers that sell Americans' sensitive personal and financial information. The proposed rule would limit the sale of personal identifiers like Social Security Numbers and phone numbers collected by certain companies and make sure that people’s financial data such as income is only shared for legitimate purposes,’ 

Right now, as far as your personal data is concerned, it's the Wild West out there. Anybody can gather anything they can get their hands on, and they can turn it around and sell it to somebody else. 

China and Russia can actually purchase personal data information about military service personnel, veterans and government employees. 

Scammers are purchasing personal information to target vulnerable consumers including senior citizens. 

Typically, this kind of access to personal data only costs pennies per person which just makes it that much more reprehensible as far as I'm concerned. 

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is proposing that data brokers must abide by the same rules that credit bureaus must follow and would have to follow the rules of the FRCA regardless of how the data is going to be used. 

Also, under this proposed rule companies that rely on consumer consent for sharing data Like a consumer credit report will need a separate specific authorization in order to do so. 

These changes won't totally fix the problem, but they will take a good first step on protecting our most vulnerable citizens from being scammed in the future. 

CFPB Proposes Rule to Stop Data Brokers from Selling Sensitive Personal Data to Scammers, Stalkers, and Spies | Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
Protecting Americans from Harmful Data Broker Practices (Regulation V) | Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
cfpb_fcra-nprm-fact-sheet_2024-12.pdf