The Center for Capital Markets Competitiveness, an arm of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, has sent a letter to the CFPB complaining about its data collection efforts.  According to the letter, companies subject to the CFPB’s regulatory authority are being asked to provide huge quantities of data regarding individual consumers’ financial transactions on an ongoing, real-time basis.

The letter notes “To date, the Bureau’s lack of transparency around its data collection efforts makes it very difficult to evaluate the prudence and the legality of the collection process; the strength of the security measures the Bureau is taking to protect consumers’ data; the extent to which personally identifiable information is being collected, stored, analyzed, or shared; the extent to which such requests are being fully coordinated at senior levels of the Bureau to avoid redundancy; and the cost burden imposed on, and potential liability exposure incurred by companies subject to the Bureau’s requests.”

The letter also notes  “Based on your public statements, it appears that these demands may violate specific limits on the Bureau’s authority set forth in the Dodd-Frank Act:

• The statute requires that the Bureau issue an order or regulation in order to collect this information, but the Bureau has done neither.
• The statute restricts the Bureau’s ability to collect consumers’ personally-identifiable information, but it is not clear that the Bureau has in place appropriate safeguards to ensure compliance with that limitation.”