Latest news with #CFBP
WIRED
14-05-2025
- Business
- WIRED
CFPB Quietly Kills Rule to Shield Americans From Data Brokers
Dell Cameron Dhruv Mehrotra May 14, 2025 12:53 PM Russell Vought, acting director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, has canceled plans to more tightly regulate the sale of Americans' sensitive personal data. Photograph:The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has cancelled plans to introduce new rules designed to limit the ability of US data brokers to sell sensitive information about Americans, including financial data, credit history, and Social Security numbers. CFPB proposed the new rule in early December under former director Rohit Chopra, who said the changes were necessary to combat commercial surveillance practices that 'threaten our personal safety and undermine America's national security.' The agency quietly withdrew the proposal on Tuesday morning, issuing a notice published in the Federal Register declaring the rule no longer 'necessary or appropriate.' CFBP received more than 600 comments from the public this year concerning the proposal, titled 'Protecting Americans from Harmful Data Broker Practices.' The rule was crafted to ensure that data brokers obtain Americans' consent before selling or sharing sensitive personal information, including financial data such as income; regulations that US credit agencies are currently required to abide by under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, one of the nation's oldest privacy laws. In its notice, CFBP's acting director, Russel Vought, wrote that he was withdrawing the proposal 'in light of updates to Bureau policies,' and that it did not align with the agency's 'current interpretation of the FCRA,' which he added CFBP is 'in the process of revising.' CFBP did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Data brokers operate within a multi-billion-dollar industry built on the collection and sale of detailed personal information—often without individuals' knowledge or consent. These companies create extensive profiles on nearly every American, including highly sensitive data such as precise location history, political affiliations, and religious beliefs. This information is frequently resold for purposes ranging from marketing to law enforcement surveillance. Many people are unaware that data brokers even exist, let alone that their personal information is being traded. In January, the Texas Attorney General's Office, led by Attorney General Ken Paxton, accused Arity—a data broker owned by Allstate—of unlawfully collecting, using, and selling driving data from over 45 million Americans to insurance companies without their consent. The harms from data brokers can be severe–even violent. The Safety Net Project, part of the National Network to End Domestic Violence, warns that people-search websites, which compile information from data brokers, can serve as tools for abusers to track down information about their victims. Last year, Gravy Analytics—which processes billions of location signals daily—suffered a data breach that may have exposed the movements of millions of individuals, including politicians and military personnel. 'Russell Vought is undoing years of painstaking, bipartisan work in order to prop up data brokers' predatory, and profitable, surveillance of Americans,' says Sean Vitka, executive director of Demand Progress, a nonprofit that supported the rule. Added Vitka: 'By withdrawing the CFPB's data broker rulemaking, the Trump administration is ensuring that Americans will continue to be bombarded by scam texts, calls and emails, and that military members and their families can be targeted by spies and blackmailers.' Vought, who also serves as director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, received a letter on Monday from the Financial Technology Association (FTA) calling for the rule to be withdrawn, claiming the rules exceed the agency's statutory mandate and would be 'harmful to financial institutions' efforts to detect and prevent fraud.' The FTA is a US-based trade organization that represents the interests of banks, lenders, payment platforms, and their executives. Privacy advocates have long pressed regulators to use the Fair Credit Reporting Act to crack down on the data broker industry. Common Defense, a veteran-led nonprofit, urged CFBP to take action in November, blaming data brokers for recklessly exposing sensitive information about US service members that placed them at 'substantial risk' of being blackmailed, scammed, or targeted by hostile foreign actors. A 2023 study cited by the group—funded by the US Military Academy at West Point—concluded that the current data broker ecosystem is a threat to US national security, permitting the sale of sensitive personal data that can be used to not only identify service members and 'other politically sensitive targets,' but offer details about medical conditions, financial problems, and political and religious beliefs. 'Foreign and malign actors with access to these datasets could uncover information about high-level targets, such as military service members, that could be used for coercion, reputational damage, and blackmail,' the authors report. Common Defense political director Naveed Shah, an Iraq War veteran, condemned the move to spike the proposed changes, accusing Vought of putting the profits of data brokers before the safety of millions of service members. "For the sake of military families and our national security, the administration must reverse course and ensure that these critical privacy protections are enacted," Shah says. Investigations by WIRED have shown data brokers have collected and made cheaply available information that can be used to reliably track the locations of American military and intelligence personnel overseas, including in and around sensitive installations overseas where US nuclear weapons are reportedly stored. WIRED reported in February that US data brokers were using Google's ad-tech tools to sell access to information about devices linked to military service members and national security decision makers, as well as federal contractors that manufacture and export classified defense-related technologies. Experts say it proves trivial for foreign adversaries to de-anonymize the data. "Data brokers inflict severe harm on individuals by degrading privacy, threatening national security, enabling scams and fraud, endangering public officials and survivors of domestic violence, and putting immigrant populations at risk,' says Caroline Kraczon, law fellow at the Electronic Privacy Information Center focused on consumer protection. 'The CFPB had a critical opportunity to address these harms by clarifying that data brokers must follow the Fair Credit Reporting Act,' adds Kraczon. 'This withdrawal is deeply disappointing and another attack in the administration's war against consumers on behalf of corporate interests." Last month, more than 1,400 CFPB employees had their positions at the agency terminated, leaving the agency with a staff of around 300 people. Elon Musk, whose so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has spearheaded the White House's efforts to radically restructure the federal government by slashing the size of the its workforce, last November called on President Donald Trump to 'delete' the CFBP, whose job includes shielding Americans from predatory lending practices.
India.com
30-04-2025
- Health
- India.com
Meet Amitabh Shah, man who runs 7000 government schools in 25 states, redeveloping over 300 Anganwadi Centres, he now plans to…
Amitabh Shah is the founder and Chief Inspiration Officer of Yuva Unstoppable. Recently, he was honoured with the 37th Jamnalal Bajaj Uchit Vyavhar Puraskar in the Charitable Association category. The Jamnalal Bajaj Awards are among India's most esteemed accolades for ethical leadership and impactful initiatives. Notable past recipients include Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, Dr. Manmohan Singh, Nandan Nilekani, and Narayana Murthy. Established in 1966 by visionary leaders such as J.R.D. Tata, Ramkrishna Bajaj, Soli Godrej, and Arvind Mafatlal, the CFBP has long championed integrity and fairness in business. Under Amitabh's leadership, Yuva Unstoppable has positively impacted over 7 million children across 7,000 government schools in 25 Indian states. Their Green and Smart Schools Transformation Initiative is a nationwide revolution to transform government schools into future-ready, sustainable learning spaces focused at improving educational outcomes and nurturing young minds. This is achieved through interventions such as access to better WASH facilities and clean drinking water, digital classrooms, modern sports facilities, solar-powered school campuses, and rainwater harvesting installations. Further, Yuva's scholarship initiative has supported 6,000+ bright students coming from difficult backgrounds —many whose parents are daily wagers earning under ₹1 lakh annually. The scholarship has enabled these students to position themselves as role models for inter and intra-generational change within their communities as they break the cycle of poverty by becoming IITians, IIM graduates, doctors, and CEOs of their startups. Beyond schools, Yuva Unstoppable is reimagining 300+ Anganwadi Centres with support from The Gates Foundation and Zerodha, transforming them into vibrant and safe spaces. These centres also empower Anganwadi workers and frontline health staff, ensuring each child receives early education and necessary nutrition. In another life-changing step, Yuva has provided nutrition kits to over 5,000 pregnant women, who are suffering from low BMI & malnutrition. Expressing his gratitude at the award ceremony, Amitabh Shah said, 'I would like to thank Swapnil Kothari, President CFBP; Shri Shekhar Bajaj, Founder Member; Justice B. N. Srikrishna, Chairman of the Jury, and the entire CFBP leadership team for this honour. This honour belongs not just to me, but to the millions of children, mothers, farmers and volunteers who've made Yuva Unstoppable what it is today. I've always believed that the real street of India is where change begins. I gave up Wall Street to walk those streets—and every smile we've helped create, every dream we've powered, makes that choice worth it. We're not just transforming schools—we're transforming lives with integrity, love, and purpose. And we'll keep going… till every child has access to education, health, and safe environment.' By nurturing lives from womb to graduation, Amitabh Shah and Yuva Unstoppable stand as testaments to bringing social change infused with fairness, equity, and transparency.
The Guardian
13-02-2025
- Business
- The Guardian
Seth Meyers on Musk and his agency's corruption: ‘It's so transparent'
Late-night hosts talk Donald Trump and Elon Musk's bizarre Oval Office press conference and their dismantling of the consumer financial protection bureau. Though Trump promised throughout his campaign to lower grocery prices as president, to date, 'we still don't have a plan for lowering eggs prices,' said Seth Meyers on Wednesday night. 'But we do have a plan for building hotels in Gaza.' The Late Night host had a theory for why Trump remained so fixated on his 'plan', announced seemingly on a whim at a press conference, to expel Palestinians and build hotels: 'it's called the Gaza Strip, and the only other strip he knows is the Vegas Strip, so he thinks that can work there,' Meyers explained. 'And if you think the people around him are going to say, 'Actually, sir, it's a different kind of strip,' just remember that the people around him also suggest Red, White and Blueland' as an alternative name for Greenland. 'This is what Trump does,' Meyers continued. 'We've seen it for years. It's nothing new. He's hoping voters will pay attention to his plans for Gaza and Greenland, and ignore what he's doing to the rest of the government.' Such as disbanding the consumer financial protection bureau (CFPB). After firing its employees, Musk tweeted 'CFBP RIP' with a tombstone emoji. 'First of all, don't announce policy via emoji,' Meyers said. 'Second, think about how corrupt this is: they're eliminating the consumer financial protection bureau, the agency that stops companies from ripping you off. It's so transparent.' Meyers noted that Musk is in the process of turning X, the social media site formerly known as Twitter that he owns, into a peer-to-peer payment and financial services app, while also dismantling the agency that oversees payments and financial services. At a press conference in the Oval Office on Tuesday, Musk defended his conflicts of interest, claiming transparency via posts to the DOGE handle on X. Meyers didn't buy it – 'so to find out what our government is up to, we just have to wade through a sea of Nazis, trolls, ads for Cheech & Chong weed gummies and bots with women in bikinis offering to send us 1m units of something called Sex Coin as long as we send our social security and bank routing numbers.' On Jimmy Kimmel Live!, the host ripped into Trump's proposal on Gaza. 'Blob the Builder is still going all in on his ridiculous and potentially disastrous plan to force nearly 2 million Palestinians who live in Gaza to go live somewhere else,' he explained. 'There seems to be no thought put into this plan outside of just what he says at the press conference.' Asked if the Palestinians didn't want to leave, Trump answered: 'They're going someplace beautiful, they're going to be in love with it.' 'This is not what you say to people you're evicting from the place where they live!' Kimmel exclaimed. 'This is what you say to your parents when you're about to put them in a retirement home.' In other Trump chaos, the White House banned reporters from the Associated Press because the outlet refused to call the Gulf of Mexico by Trump's self-proclaimed new title, the Gulf of America. 'They're going to keep kicking journalists out until all they have left are Fox, Newsmax, OAN, OnlyFans and Golf Digest,' Kimmel joked. Google and Apple maps both fell in line, re-labeling the body of water for just American users. 'It's basically the equivalent of giving Trump a binky and hoping he shuts up,' said Kimmel. How fun! Trump celebrated "Take Your Elon To Work Day"! And on the Daily Show, Jordan Klepper recapped a Oval Office presser hosted by Trump and Musk. 'It's good that we have Elon Musk here,' said Klepper, 'because we've been watching him slashing programs and shuttering agencies for a month now, and we can finally ask Elon, 'Why are you doing this?'' Musk defended his unofficial 'department of government efficiency' (also known as Doge) because: 'It's incredibly important that the president, the House and the Senate decide what happens, as opposed to a large, unelected bureaucracy.' Though Musk disparaged unelected bureaucrats, Klepper had to ask: 'Isn't that you…? Am I going crazy? Because it feels like I'm watching Drake sing Not Like Us at karaoke. Like, does he not know? 'Is having this one unaccountable bureaucrat in charge better than having those other unaccountable bureaucrats in charge?' he continued. 'Because at least the others have to follow transparency laws. The only thing transparent about Doge is Elon's skin.' As Klepper noted, Musk's financial disclosures are being kept secret, the 'efficiency' agency is exempt from open records laws, and when someone on X posted the names of Doge employees, the account was suspended and Musk tweeted 'you have committed a crime' – 'which, we tried to fact check with career officials at the FBI, but they're all working at a Panera now', Klepper quipped. Musk also defended himself against obvious conflicts of interest, saying: 'I fully expect to be scrutinized and get a daily proctology exam.' 'Well, I did the exam, and what an asshole,' Klepper retorted.
Yahoo
10-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
"This is code red": Trump's Project 2025 agenda comes for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
The Trump administration is trying to kill off another independent federal agency in apparent disregard of the law. In an email sent Monday, Russell Vought, the architect of Project 2025 who was recently confirmed as head of the Office of Management and Budget, instructed employees of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to stay home and refrain "from performing any work task," according to a copy of the missive obtained by independent journalist Marisa Kabas. The news was subsequently confirmed by Bloomberg and Law360. Vought's efforts to shutter the agency without congressional approval, which includes ordering its Washington office closed this week, has already provoked lawsuits from the union that represents CFBP employees, NBC News reported. The union is also suing to prevent operatives associated with Elon Musk and his so-called Department of Government Efficiency from accessing CFPB data. The CFPB was created in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis to address fraud and abuse perpetrated by lending institutions. Since its founding in 2011, the agency has obtained more than $21 billion in relief for consumers impacted by banks and other creditors engaging in fraudulent or abusive practices, according to CFBP's website. The agency has also imposed more than $5 billion in civil penalties on those who have violated consumers' rights. But the CFPB has long been in the crosshairs of Republicans and their financial backers, who have decried efforts to rein in Wall Street as big government meddling and lamented the agency's ability to act independent of political interferene. In a chapter dedicated to CFPB, Project 2025 contributor Robert Bowes wrote that "the next conservative president should order the immediate dissolution of the agency — pull down its prior rules, regulations and guidance, return its staff to their prior agencies and its building to to the General Services Administration." President Donald Trump appears determined to do just that, despite the fact that CFPB was created by a 2010 law passed by Congress, deepening what even some conservative scholars say is now a constitutional crisis. "If you have a bank account, or credit card or mortgage or student loan, this is code red. I am ringing the alarm bell," Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., said in a video posted Monday on social media. Warren, who first proposed creating the agency, said the effort will be opposed in Congress and the courts, but the senator has also embraced street protests, planning to speaking Monday afternoon at a rally outside CFBP's shuttered headquarters in Washington, DC. Leah Greenberg, co-executive director of the progressive advocacy group Indivisible, which organized the protest, said the effort to dissolve CFPB was an "illegal" and "blatant" attempt to seize power and shield moneyed interests from oversight. "This is a five-alarm fire for anyone who gives a damn about holding corporate thieves accountable," she said in a statement." The CFPB is a lifeline for working people, and we will not stand by while right-wing extremists and billionaire robber barons try to burn it to the ground."
