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Feds Propose Crackdown on Data Brokers Selling Sensitive Personal Information

New rules from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and settlements from the Federal Trade Commission would limit what information data brokers can sell and who they can sell it to.

In the wake of several scandals exposing how data brokers endanger military service members, intelligence officers, and average Americans, federal consumer protection agencies on Tuesday announced a series of proposals that would restrict how the industry traffics sensitive personal information. Second, the Federal Trade Commission announced proposed settlement orders with the data brokers Gravy Analytics, its subsidiary Venntel, and Mobilewalla that would prohibit the companies from using or sharing information about consumers’ visits to medical facilities, religious organizations, labor union offices, schools, military installations, and other sensitive locations. The CFPB says its new rule is aimed at preventing data brokers from freely selling that kind of information, which in addition to jeopardizing national security and law enforcement also threatens the safety of survivors of stalking and domestic violence and fuels a wide range of financial scams.

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