This is something that members of the debt buying and collections industry are going to find incredibly ironic.
Sen. Chuck Grassley, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, yesterday released a letter he wrote to the Deputy Attorney General, chiding the federal government for not moving fast enough on a particular topic.
In what way is the federal government failing us as a country? By not developing a plan for getting around encrypted databases of private companies, essentially.
The Judiciary Committee held a hearing this past summer that tackled the topic of balancing privacy with public safety. Many companies are encrypting their databases, to keep the information secure and safe in the event of a cyber attack. You know, like the cyber attack on the government’s Office of Personnel Management, which compromised the personal information of millions of government employees.
These contradictory messages come at a time when regulatory agencies are dropping the hammer on corporations and companies, including debt buyers and collection agencies, for not doing enough to keep consumers’ personal information secure.
The government needs to make up its mind. Either tell us to keep the data safe or tell us they want access to the data to keep us safe. It seems paradoxical to try and have it both ways.
