An organization called the Southwest Public Policy Institute has launched a campaign to hold the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau accountable for a data breach that occurred at the Bureau earlier this year and exposed the personal information of 250,000 consumers. The SPPI has launched what it is calling the Bureau to Protect Financial Consumers from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau or the BPFCCFPB.
Background: The CFPB announced the breach after learning that a former employee of the Bureau forwarded confidential information about 250,000 consumers and dozens of financial institutions to his personal email account. While it appears as though the information went no further than that account, the CFPB label the incident as “major” and disclosed it to lawmakers.
What’s Happening: Because there is no mechanism for consumers to file complaints about the CFPB, the SPPI is taking it upon itself to be the repository for that information and is seeking to have individuals whose information was included in the breach share their story with the organization. Once aggregated, the SPPI said it would release them to the public as a means of holding the CFPB accountable and to prevent such a breach from occurring again.
The Last Word: “We are excited to launch this consumer protection bureau to protect consumers from the federal government,” said SPPI President Patrick Brenner. “If the federal government cannot protect consumers from themselves, we will step in. Earlier this year, their staff exploited consumers by stealing their personal information. This bureau, conceived by Elizabeth Warren, is about as transparent and successful as her 2016 presidential campaign.”
