CFPB Data Breach – Ex-Employee Steals Personal Information of 250,000 Consumers

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is “dedicated to making sure [consumers] are treated fairly by banks, lenders and other financial institutions.” Unfortunately, that mission suffered a major blow when a massive data breach came to light.

As reported on by Politico, The Hill, and several media outlets, a CFPB employee sent the personal information, including names and financial account numbers, of over 250,000 consumers to a personal email account. This employee has since been terminated. Interestingly, the CFPB discovered the issue on February 14 but did not report the incident until just recently.

The blowback against the agency has been swift. Senator Tim Scott, Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, has requested a briefing with CFPB Director Rohit Chopra to understand additional details about the breach including remediation steps and data privacy practices. Representative Bill Huizenga also requested a briefing on the matter.