Consumer Protection Agency orders US tech giants to hand over data on payment systems

[Shawn Knight]

What just happened? The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has ordered several of the largest tech companies in the US to hand over information about how they use personal payments data and manage access to consumers’ payment information so the agency can ensure consumers are being adequately protected.

Request were initially sent to Apple, Amazon, Facebook, PayPal, Google and Square, the bureau said, and are pursuant to Section 1022(c)(4) of the Consumer Financial Protection Act.

Specifically, the bureau believes the information will provide insight into data harvesting and monetization practices. It’s possible, for example, that some big tech companies could be sharing payment data across product lines or selling information to data brokers and other third parties to help with ad and behavior targeting.

The orders also aim to identify any restrictive access policies that could affect consumer choice and stifle innovation. For example, consumers want to know that everything is being done to protect them from fraud and payments made in error, to have access to responsive customer service and to be treated equally under the law.

The Wall Street Journal reached out to each of the companies listed above. Spokespeople for Google, Amazon and Facebook declined to comment, while reps for Apple, PayPal and Square failed to respond to the request for comment before the publication’s deadline.

The bureau said it will also look into the payment system practices of several Chinese tech titans including WeChat Pay and Alipay.

A deadline for tech giants to respond was not made publicly available.

Image credit Jonas Leupe, Karolina Grabowska

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https://www.techspot.com/news/91881-consumer-protection-agency-orders-us-tech-giants-hand.html

 

[Irata]

Requiring services like Paypal to have credit card chargeback / fraud protection rules / features would already be a big step forward.

 

[Ludak021]

So, CFPB want's data for free? Hmm...

 

[Watzupken]

I don't know if this will help at all. In my opinion, the more data get shared, the higher the risk of data leak. There is no foolproof security system that will ensure that data is safe and sound.

 

[Jack Deth]

Requiring services like Paypal to have credit card chargeback / fraud protection rules / features would already be a big step forward.

Paypal has lost a lot of my trust in recent years.

 

[Jack Deth]

"Protection" agencies, the crooked government, and Big Tech overlords are all bed together. And it's worse than it's ever been.

They like to play ptetend, and get tough with requirements and regulations, but it's all for show.

 

[Irata]

Paypal has lost a lot of my trust in recent years.

They have lost all of my trust and I‘ve been a customer pretty much since they first started doing business, so a very long time with a lot of money spent through them.

In the end, I got ripped off by a Chinese fraudster (for about €40, so nothing major) and discovered how worthless their purchase protection is if they cannot get their money back from the seller.

With a credit card, there is zero issue in a similar case.

Either way, I decided to cancel my Paypal account. Perhaps the most disappointing thing is that they could not have cared less (I cancelled via the web site).