Trump just handed data brokers a gift—in the form of our data

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Tuesday quietly withdrew new rules requiring data brokers to get consent before collecting and selling a consumer’s data.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), under acting director Russell Vought, canceled proposed new rules this week that would have protected Americans’ sensitive private data—including financial data, credit history, and Social Security numbers—from being collected by data brokers without consent and sold to advertisers and other third parties.