CFPB Director: Yes, We Have Data. No, We're Not The NSA.

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The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and National Security Agency both collect data. They are both federal agencies. So does that make them the same thing? At least one House member seems to think so.

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau chief Richard Cordray appeared before the House Financial Services Committee to deliver a semiannual report on the work of his agency. His opening testimony covered implementation of the Dodd-Frank Act and efforts to improve consumers' financial literacy. But Rep Randy Neugebauer (R-TX) wasn't interested in any of that. He wanted to know whether the data the bureau was collecting about consumers was safe and not jeopardizing the privacy of everyday Americans. Rep Neugebauer then began quoting at length from President Barack Obama's Jan 17 policy speech that outlined some reforms to the NSA before he launched into a quixotic series of questions. Cordray, the agency's first director, responded: "You are giving me quotes about the NSA, which is not us and not what we are doing."


CFPB Director: Yes, We Have Data. No, We're Not The NSA.