SIIA Urges CFPB to Protect Data Brokers and First Amendment Rights

The Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA) has expressed concerns to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) regarding regulations on “data brokers.” SIIA, representing over 450 companies in the information business, cautions against regulations that hinder productive data use or infringe on First Amendment rights. They argue that data brokers play a crucial role in providing information for various purposes such as law enforcement, combating money laundering and terrorism, child support enforcement, insurance, product safety, tax compliance, fraud prevention, and news publishing. These activities rely on publicly-available data and contribute to consumer security and convenience. SIIA asserts that there is a legislative and regulatory consensus that data brokering is protected by the First Amendment. They also argue that restrictions on publicly-available data or its derivatives would violate the First Amendment. While regulations on private data may be appropriate, they emphasize the importance of protecting the public domain and maintaining the availability of information for positive societal endeavors.