American Banker Op-Ed: Attacks on ‘data brokers’ ignore their key role in consumer protection
In an op-ed for American Banker’s BankThink section, Emilio Cividanes, counsel for the Responsible Data Alliance, outlines how data helps protect consumers from fraud and calls for a nuanced approach to policy that recognizes this important role.
“Policymakers should focus on how data is used, for what purpose and with what safeguards, rather than assuming that less data always equals less harm. Well-defined and responsible uses of data for identity verification and fraud prevention should be explicitly protected, not treated as collateral damage in broader campaigns against irresponsible data practices.
Privacy, security and fraud prevention protect consumers and the global financial ecosystem when data is used responsibly. But when policy paints with too broad a brush, the people who pay the price are not abstract ‘data brokers.’ They are consumers whose identities are stolen, whose accounts are drained, and whose access to and trust in the financial system is eroded.
If the goal is truly to protect consumers, we should start by preserving and clearly distinguishing the responsible data practices that keep fraud out of their lives in the first place,” he writes.
