White House scraps plan to block data brokers from selling Americans’ sensitive data

image via TechCrunch

May 14, 2025, 6:35 PM

• •The CFPB's acting director, Russell Vought, stated that the rule is "not aligned with the Bureau’s current interpretation” of the Fair Credit Reporting Act.
• •Data brokers profit from collecting and selling access to vast amounts of Americans’ personal and financial information, including Social Security numbers.
• •Privacy advocates have long called for the government to use the Fair Credit Reporting Act to rein in data brokers.
• •The Financial Technology Association lobbied the administration to withdraw the CFPB’s rule, claiming it would be “harmful to financial institutions’ efforts to detect and prevent fraud.”

A senior Trump administration official canceled a plan that would have prevented data brokers from selling Americans' personal and financial information, including Social Security numbers. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) had planned to close a loophole under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, but the rule was withdrawn. This decision allows data brokers to continue profiting from the collection and sale of sensitive data. This comes after lobbying from industry groups who claimed the rule would harm fraud detection efforts.

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