EPIC Applauds CFPB’s Inquiry Into Payment Platforms, But Notes Further Investigation Necessary

EPIC has filed comments praising the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s inquiry into digital payment platforms but urging the Bureau to go further. The CFPB recently ordered major tech platforms that facilitate online payments—including Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon, Square, and PayPal—to provide information about their data practices and sought public input on the Bureau’s orders. EPIC wrote the the CFPB’s investigation “significantly advances the Bureau’s privacy, consumer protection, and competition goals.” But EPIC argued that the Bureau should also look specifically at the data minimization and data security practices of online payment platforms, closely consider the CFPB’s role where consumers have no meaningful choice of which platform will process their payments, and broaden its investigation to include data aggregators. EPIC regularly files comments and amicus briefs and provides congressional testimony on matters related to consumer privacy, big data, and data security.