The Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, Patrick McHenry (R-NC), sent a comment letter to CFPB Director Rohit Chopra in response to the CFPB’s notice of proposed rulemaking that would implement Section 1033 of the Dodd Frank Wall Street Reform Act and Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010. The letter highlighted that statutes, regulations and guidance have not kept pace with technological advances but the proposed rule is making significant strides. McHenry stressed that the disclosure of confidential commercial information and anti-money laundering and fraud detection information would be harmful to the financial system. The letter further addresses McHenry’s concerns that the secondary data provisions of the rule will have negative, unintended consequences for the United States financial services industry’s global leadership. He indicated that completely prohibiting the use of secondary data with no exclusion for the use of anonymized data hinders product innovation and provides no consumer benefit. The letter highlights that the SBREFA panel recommended that consumers be allowed to opt in and permit their data to be used for such secondary purposes. McHenry is urging the CFPB to revisit provisions within the proposed rule that would unduly restrict the use of secondary data and implement either an opt in or opt out regime, as is included in other data protection laws, and the use of anonymized data for those purposes.

As we previously blogged, fifteen trade groups sought an extension of Section 1033 rulemaking comment period that ends on December 29, 2023. Only comments from individuals have been submitted so far.

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