Federal CFPB to Spy on 80% of Americans’ Credit Card Purchases
September 17th, 2013
A provision in the misguided Dodd-Frank Act created the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in 2011, and it is already trampling all over the Constitution. Washington Examiner gained a copy of the bureau’s 2013-2017 planning report, which outlines a chilling plot to spy on Americans’ credit card swipes. The CFPB plans on monitoring up to 80% of all credit card transactions and 95% of all mortgages, giving it an unprecedented ability to track the financial decisions, preferences, and movements of citizens.
In a recent congressional hearing, some congressmen expressed concerns that the program exceeds constitutional limits and violates the language of the Dodd-Frank Act. Furthermore, tracking billions of transactions further exacerbates the information bloat that is currently crippling US agencies. For example, with so much useless data on file, investigators failed to notice advance warnings about the Boston Marathon bombers.
CFPB’s Markets Monitoring Program Violates the Fourth Amendment
In today’s increasingly digitized society, credit card transactions can tell a lot about a person. One could glean info from them on an individual’s eating habits, entertainment preferences, political donations, and typical whereabouts. In fact, the CFPB might be attempting to access a cache of private information that rivals in scope the troves of data collected under the National Security Agency’s email and cell phone spying programs.
The Fourth Amendment to the US Constitution is supposed to protect Americans from these types of abuses. If someone were accused of fraud, a court could gain access to this type of financial info via a warrant. Similarly, attorneys could push for discovery of relevant info in a contract dispute. As such, it is unnecessary to pre-collect financial data on Americans who have not been accused of any wrongdoing.
Congress Pushes Back Against the CFPB
The above-linked Washington Examiner article notes that GOP Congressman Spencer Bauchus believes that this new markets monitoring effort violates the Fourth Amendment. In a hearing on the program, Representative Sean Duffy called it “one step closer to a Big Brother form of government.” CFPB chief Richard Cordray indicated that the bureau has been monitoring transactions at 110 financial institutions, with standouts like Bank of America, Morgan Chase, Discover, and American Express making the list.
From the NSA to the CFPB, Americans have recently endured unimaginable levels of identity theft at the hands of their own government. With so many private records compiled in centralized servers, America is now one hack away from a devastating ultra-leak that could expose everyone’s private information.
Furthermore, the government now has so much data on its own citizens that politicians or bureaucrats could harass, bully, intimidate, or terrorize those who try to hold them accountable. Millions of Americans have special security clearance, allowing them to gain access to confidential information. Will poorly-vetted third-party contractors be able to sift through other Americans’ credit card transactions, thus keeping an eye on every move they make?
These politicians and bureaucrats need to reread the Constitution and start following it, before the rule of law deteriorates past the point of no return.
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