The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has accepted a Republican senator’s request to investigate the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) consumer data collection practices.
Senator Mike Crapo (R-Ida.), a ranking member of the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, sent a July 2 letter to the GAO requesting a review of the CFPB’s data collection effort in the wake of a WatchDog report that the bureau is spending millions of dollars to gather information on consumers.
“GAO accepts your request as work that is within the scope of its authority,” wrote Katherine Siggerud, managing director for Congressional Relations for GAO, in a July 12 letter to Senator Crapo. Siggerud also noted the agency would be in contact with the Inspector General’s office to make sure there wouldn’t be overlap in the review.
Crapo has previously spoken against the CFPB’s large-scale data collection, citing reports revealing the CFPB has spent more than $20 million for collecting and tracking the consumer spending habits of millions of Americans.
“The size and scope of this data collection warrant proper government oversight to both guard consumers’ privacy and ensure that the CFPB is acting within its existing authority,” said Crapo in his letter to the GAO Comptroller General.
GAO said its review of the CFPB’s collection practices will begin shortly.
Written by Alyssa Gerace
