FTC and CFPB Announce New Actions to Limit the Sale of Americans’ Private Information, Following Wyden’s Efforts to Spotlight Abuses that Threaten Safety and National Security
Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Ron Wyden, D-Ore., today applauded two federal privacy regulators for announcing new actions to limit data brokers’ ability to sell the personal data of regular Americans, including U.S. service members overseas.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau proposed a rule on Tuesday to limit the information that can be sold under the so-called “credit header” loophole, which allows Social Security numbers, phone numbers and other information from mortgage, utility and other companies to be sold to data brokers. Also on Tuesday, the Federal Trade Commission took action against the data broker Mobilewalla and the data broker Gravy Analytics and its subsidiary Venntel, for collecting, using and selling Americans location data without obtaining consumer consent. Venntel sold location data to U.S. government agencies without a warrant.
Both actions came in response to requests by Wyden, who has spent years watchdogging abuses by the data broker industry.
Wyden requested CFPB act following his investigation and reporting by the Washington Post that revealed the sale of Americans’ personal data by credit agencies, exploiting the so-called ‘credit-header’ loophole. He praised the bureau on Tuesday.
“The CFPB is putting up points for Americans’ privacy right down to the buzzer by acting on my 2021 request to close a key loophole that enables sleazy data brokers to sell Americans’ personal data to criminals, stalkers and foreign spies,” Wyden said. “Letting anyone with a credit card buy this data doesn’t just harm Americans’ privacy, it seriously threatens national security when sensitive information about law enforcement, judges and members of the armed forces is on the open market. Unfortunately, it will be up to Trump’s CFPB to finalize this proposed rule, and he and his billionaire donors are intent on shutting this agency down to take away a key advocate for American consumers.”
Wyden and a bipartisan coalition of Senators called for the FTC to take action against Mobilewalla in 2020. Also in 2020, Wyden and other members of Congress investigated Venntel, and called for the Department of Homeland Security Inspector General (DHS IG) to investigate agencies’ purchase of data from the company. The subsequent DHS IG report revealed that several federal agencies broke the law by purchasing Americans’ location data. Wyden revealed in 2023 that U.S. Customs and Border Protection had stopped purchasing location data.
“The FTC‘s latest orders against location data brokers are good news for Americans. My investigation into these companies, four years ago, first helped to shine the spotlight on these outrageous violations of Americans’ privacy,” Wyden said. “These companies enabled U.S. government agencies to surveil Americans without a warrant, and enabled foreign countries to spy on service members with just a credit card. Many federal agencies hid behind the flimsy claim that Americans consented to the sale of their data, but the FTC‘s orders make it clear how untrue these claims were. I am glad to see that the FTC is prohibiting these companies from selling any more location data without explicit consent.”
Wyden has introduced several bills to protect Americans from having their data sold to corporations or the government without their consent, including the Fourth Amendment is Not for Sale Act, which passed the House of Representatives on a bipartisan vote earlier this year.
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