CFPB proposes new rule to regulate expansive data broker industry

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau proposed expanding the Fair Credit Reporting Act to cover data brokers, imposing permissible-purpose requirements, disclosure and consent rules, and accountability measures; the move is prompted by privacy and security concerns after high-profile incidents, including a breach at National Public Data that exposed roughly 2.9 billion records (names, SSNs, addresses, phone numbers) and evidence of sensitive location data being sold, raising risks for identity theft and national-security exposures.