CFPB’s Data Grab Is Government Theft—And You’re Paying the Price

Originally published at X.com.​

When the government crosses the line from protecting consumers to controlling markets, bad things happen. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB)—a rogue agency that never should’ve been created—is doing precisely that with its new Section 1033 data-sharing rule. This time, it’s setting the price of private property at zero and pretending that’s good for consumers.

Let’s call this what it is: central planning disguised as consumer protection. The CFPB wants to force banks and credit unions to hand over your private financial data to third-party tech firms, mostly Fintech startups, without compensation. You read that right. The government is mandating that private institutions provide "free" access to their infrastructure, systems, and customers’ data. And while unelected bureaucrats pat themselves on the back for “consumer empowerment,” regular Americans end up footing the bill.

The CFPB claims it’s about giving you control of your data. But consumers already have access to their bank information. This allows unregulated companies—often with lower security standards—to integrate with secure financial systems developed by banks with decades of experience and billions of dollars in investment. In 2022 alone, banks spent over $200 billion on technology, with a significant portion allocated to cybersecurity and digital infrastructure to protect families, retirees, and entrepreneurs. That investment doesn’t come cheap, and it certainly shouldn’t be handed over for “free” because Washington says so.

Imagine spending years building a secure home, only to have the government show up and tell you to leave the door open for competitors. That’s exactly what Section 1033 would do. Financial institutions are being told: let outsiders access your systems, maintain the costs, accept the risks, and charge nothing for it.

This is theft by regulation. The price is set at zero, but the real cost will be borne by consumers like Maria, a single mother in Texas who uses her bank’s mobile app to pay bills and save for her kids’ future. Under this rule, her data could be funneled to an unknown Fintech company without explicit consent, adequate oversight, or strong accountability. And when something goes wrong—when her data is stolen, misused, or sold—she won’t be calling the CFPB for help. She’ll be stuck.

To make matters worse, the CFPB recently issued a legal memo saying it “shall not engage in attempts to create price controls.” But this rule is exactly that. It requires financial institutions to provide access to valuable infrastructure and data. No price negotiation, no contract, just a government mandate. That’s not a free market. That’s central planning.

Thankfully, there’s still time to fix this. Russ Vought, my former boss and current director of the Office of Management and Budget, who oversees the CFPB in the second Trump administration, should shut this down immediately. He knows better than anyone that agencies like the CFPB are not designed to improve markets—they’re designed to control them. And Americans are worse off because of it.

The right approach is simple. If consumers wish to share their data with a third party, they should be given the option to do so. But access to bank-built infrastructure should be based on voluntary agreements. If a Fintech wants in, it should negotiate and pay for it, just like any other business operating in a free economy. That’s how innovation happens. That’s how investment gets rewarded. That’s how people are protected.

Nothing is free. Not your bank’s cybersecurity. Not your personal financial information. And indeed not the right to access someone else’s property. When the government pretends otherwise, markets break, risks rise, and the people left paying for it are the very consumers politicians claim to protect.

Section 1033 is a government-mandated data grab that undermines the rule of law, property rights, and economic freedom. It should be scrapped, along with the CFPB.

Vance Ginn, Ph.D., is president of Ginn Economic Consulting and former chief economist of the first Trump White House’s Office of Management and Budget (June 2019 to May 2020). Follow him on X at @vanceginn.