[Senate Hearing 115-132]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]




                                                        S. Hrg. 115-132


             CONSUMER DATA SECURITY AND THE CREDIT BUREAUS

=======================================================================

                                HEARING

                               before the

                              COMMITTEE ON
                   BANKING,HOUSING,AND URBAN AFFAIRS
                          UNITED STATES SENATE

                     ONE HUNDRED FIFTEENTH CONGRESS

                             FIRST SESSION

                                   ON

EXAMINING THE PROTECTION OF CONSUMER DATA AT CREDIT BUREAUS IN THE WAKE 
                       OF THE EQUIFAX DATA BREACH

                               __________

                            OCTOBER 17, 2017

                               __________

  Printed for the use of the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban 
                                Affairs




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            COMMITTEE ON BANKING, HOUSING, AND URBAN AFFAIRS

                      MIKE CRAPO, Idaho, Chairman

RICHARD C. SHELBY, Alabama           SHERROD BROWN, Ohio
BOB CORKER, Tennessee                JACK REED, Rhode Island
PATRICK J. TOOMEY, Pennsylvania      ROBERT MENENDEZ, New Jersey
DEAN HELLER, Nevada                  JON TESTER, Montana
TIM SCOTT, South Carolina            MARK R. WARNER, Virginia
BEN SASSE, Nebraska                  ELIZABETH WARREN, Massachusetts
TOM COTTON, Arkansas                 HEIDI HEITKAMP, North Dakota
MIKE ROUNDS, South Dakota            JOE DONNELLY, Indiana
DAVID PERDUE, Georgia                BRIAN SCHATZ, Hawaii
THOM TILLIS, North Carolina          CHRIS VAN HOLLEN, Maryland
JOHN KENNEDY, Louisiana              CATHERINE CORTEZ MASTO, Nevada

                     Gregg Richard, Staff Director

                 Mark Powden, Democratic Staff Director

                      Elad Roisman, Chief Counsel

                      Joe Carapiet, Senior Counsel

              Kristine Johnson, Professional Staff Member

                 Elisha Tuku, Democratic Chief Counsel

            Laura Swanson, Democratic Deputy Staff Director

           Corey Frayer, Democratic Professional Staff Member

            Phil Rudd, Democratic Professional Staff Member

                       Dawn Ratliff, Chief Clerk

                      Cameron Ricker, Deputy Clerk

                     James Guiliano, Hearing Clerk

                      Shelvin Simmons, IT Director

                          Jim Crowell, Editor

                                  (ii)




















                            C O N T E N T S

                              ----------                              


                       TUESDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2017

                                                                   Page

Opening statement of Chairman Crapo..............................     1

Opening statements, comments, or prepared statements of:
    Senator Brown................................................     2

                               WITNESSES

Andrew M. Smith, Partner, Covington & Burling LLP, on behalf of 
  the Consumer Data Industry Association.........................     3
    Prepared statement...........................................    38
    Responses to written questions of:
        Chairman Crapo...........................................    57
        Senator Brown............................................    58
        Senator Schatz...........................................    64
Marc Rotenberg, President, Electronic Privacy Information Center.     5
    Prepared statement...........................................    43
    Responses to written questions of:
        Chairman Crapo...........................................    68
        Senator Brown............................................    71
Chris Jaikaran, Analyst in Cybersecurity Policy, Congressional 
  Research Service...............................................     6
    Prepared statement...........................................    52
    Responses to written questions of:
        Senator Brown............................................    79
        Senator Reed.............................................    82

              Additional Material Supplied for the Record

Letter from Jim Nussle, President and Chief Executive Officer, 
  Credit Union National Association..............................    84
Letter from John A. Koskinen, Commissioner, Internal Revenue 
  Service........................................................    85
Letter from Carrie R. Hunt, Executive Vice President of 
  Government Affairs and General Counsel, the National 
  Association of Federally-Insured Credit Unions.................    87

                                 (iii)

 
             CONSUMER DATA SECURITY AND THE CREDIT BUREAUS

                              ----------                              


                       TUESDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2017

                                       U.S. Senate,
          Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs,
                                                    Washington, DC.
    The Committee met at 10:03 a.m., in room SD-538, Dirksen 
Senate Office Building, Hon. Mike Crapo, Chairman of the 
Committee, presiding.

            OPENING STATEMENT OF CHAIRMAN MIKE CRAPO

    Chairman Crapo. This Committee will come to order.
    As a follow-up to our hearing on the Equifax data breach, 
today we will receive testimony on the protection of consumer 
data at credit bureaus.
    At the Equifax hearing, Members expressed interest in 
better understanding how credit bureaus are regulated, how they 
protect consumer data, and whether there are gaps that Congress 
needs to fill.
    I have long been concerned about the ever increasing 
amounts of ``big data'' collected by companies and by the 
Government. It is critical that personal data is protected, 
consumer impact in the event of a breach is minimized, and 
consumers' ability to access credit is not harmed.
    Credit bureaus play a valuable role in our financial system 
by helping financial institutions assess a consumer's ability 
to meet financial obligations and also facilitating access to 
beneficial financial products and services.
    The inherent nature of the credit bureau business, as with 
most businesses in this digital age, requires utmost data 
security measures to ensure that sensitive consumer information 
is safeguarded.
    Two weeks ago, Equifax testified about the methods it uses 
to protect its consumer data bases, such as encryption at rest 
and tokenization. Former Equifax CEO Richard Smith noted that 
while some of Equifax's data bases are encrypted at rest, the 
dispute portal that was compromised was not.
    Questions remain about the best ways to protect sensitive 
data, including:
    Are there data security industry standards and best 
practices at credit bureaus?
    Should tools like encryption at rest be employed to protect 
all data containing sensitive consumer information?
    What role do financial institutions and Federal agencies 
play in data security at credit bureaus?
    Given that credit bureaus are financial institutions under 
the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, how does data security, testing, 
and oversight by regulators compare to that of traditional 
financial institutions?
    I look forward to hearing from our witnesses about what 
credit bureaus do to ensure security for the data they collect, 
who oversees credit bureaus to ensure they have adequate 
security measures in place, and what improvements could be made 
to the oversight of data security at the credit bureaus.
    There are also many concerns regarding company response to 
data breaches. The Equifax breach has left more than 145 
million consumers a little confused as to what can be done to 
mitigate damage to their identities and credit.
    We do know that starting in January, Equifax will offer all 
customers the ability to lock or unlock their credit files for 
free.
    Additional products have also been offered from Equifax and 
the other credit bureaus for consumers to monitor or freeze 
their credit reports.
    Many consumers remain confused about which options are best 
for them, but this hearing will hopefully provide some 
additional clarity. We have a shared interest on this Committee 
in ensuring that credit bureaus take the necessary measures to 
safeguard personal data and minimize risk of another massive 
data breach.
    Senator Brown.

           OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR SHERROD BROWN

    Senator Brown. Thank you, Chairman Crapo.
    Under current law, whether we like it or not, companies 
like Equifax can collect vast troves of personal information. 
That includes information plucked from our work histories, our 
social media profiles, from reward cards that track our 
purchases at the grocery store, and even information from our 
cell phones tracking our daily commutes.
    Generally, these companies are free to combine and sell 
that information to all sorts of financial institutions and 
other data mining firms who use it to make decisions about us--
like what kind of car or job that we might get.
    Corporations like Equifax rarely have to tell us exactly 
why or how these decisions are made. They get to hide behind 
proprietary models and trade secrets. It seems our laws protect 
big corporations' use of people's data a lot better than they 
actually protect people.
    As the recent breach demonstrates, enhanced cybersecurity 
measures at companies like Equifax might work perfectly yet 
still do little to protect consumers' data. While 145 million 
people have had their private data exposed, it does not appear 
that any sensitive corporate data was accessed.
    Because these businesses are not accountable to consumers, 
and because consumers have no choice over who is collecting 
their information, consumer protection is pretty much an 
afterthought.
    As we talk about the clearly inadequate protections for 
consumer data at Equifax and those in place at the other 
consumer reporting agencies today, we cannot forget that the 
real victims of this hack are the 145 million people--5 million 
in my State alone--who, through no fault of their own, have had 
their personal information compromised.
    I hope that at today's hearing we do not just talk about 
how we strengthen cybersecurity. We do need to do that, of 
course, but we also need to explore how to restore people's 
control over their own information. We need to examine whether 
the current credit bureau model makes sense for American 
consumers.
    We know the credit bureaus have a long history of consumer 
complaints and inaccurate reporting that has long-term effects 
on people's ability to get a job or get a house. Rather than 
addressing these problems, the credit bureaus have spent 
millions acquiring other data collection companies and 
branching out into new lines of business.
    Despite their continued failure--there is no other word to 
use--their continued failure to provide accurate credit 
reporting services or to protect all of the data that they 
collect, their CEOs have been rewarded with enormous salaries 
and bonuses. Sometimes they come in front of us and say they 
are going to give up their bonus, as if that is a major 
concession. Now, in an era of nonstop cyberthreats, it seems 
like they have made consumers even more vulnerable.
    Equifax made astounding amounts of money off of the 
consumer data it collected; and unless things change, it looks 
like it will hardly pay a price for its recklessness. It is 
still collecting and storing our data, and in some cases we are 
even giving it tax dollars to do it. I look forward to today's 
witnesses' views on these matters.
    Thank you.
    Chairman Crapo. Thank you, Senator Brown. We will now turn 
to our witnesses.
    First, we will receive testimony from Mr. Andrew Smith, 
partner at Covington & Burling, on behalf of the Consumer Data 
Industry Association.
    Then we will hear from Mr. Marc Rotenberg, president of the 
Electronic Privacy Information Center.
    And, finally, we will hear from Mr. Chris Jaikaran. Did I 
pronounce that right?
    Mr. Jaikaran. Jaikaran.
    Chairman Crapo. Jaikaran. Thank you. Mr. Chris Jaikaran, 
Analyst in Cybersecurity Policy at the Congressional Research 
Service.
    Each witness is recognized for 5 minutes of oral remarks, 
and then we will proceed to questions. Mr. Smith, you may 
proceed.

STATEMENT OF ANDREW M. SMITH, PARTNER, COVINGTON & BURLING LLP, 
      ON BEHALF OF THE CONSUMER DATA INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION

    Mr. Smith. Thank you. Chairman Crapo, Ranking Member Brown, 
and Members of the Committee, thank you for the opportunity to 
appear before you. My name is Andrew Smith, and I am a partner 
at the law firm Covington & Burling. I am appearing today on 
behalf of the Consumer Data Industry Association, which is a 
trade association of companies that provide businesses with the 
information and analytical tools necessary to manage risk and 
to protect consumers. CDIA's members include the three national 
credit bureaus: Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion.
    You have asked us to discuss how credit bureaus protect 
consumer data, but first I wanted to mention the important role 
played by the national credit reporting system in our economy. 
More than two-thirds of our GDP comes from consumer spending, 
fueled by consumer credit. It is the national credit reporting 
system that allows consumers to quickly and effortlessly open a 
bank account or purchase a cell phone. More than 40 percent of 
consumers move every year, and the national credit reporting 
system facilitates this mobility, in addition to providing 
fast, fair, and impartial access to well-priced credit, 
insurance, apartment rental, and other essential services.
    Nearly 50 years ago, Congress enacted the Fair Credit 
Reporting Act to ensure the fairness and impartiality of credit 
reports, to protect consumer privacy, and to foster the 
continued development and vitality of the national credit 
reporting system.
    The most recent revision to this comprehensive regulatory 
scheme was the addition of the CFPB as a supervisory agency. 
This is the first agency to directly supervise the national 
credit reporting system, not just examining credit bureaus but 
also examining the users of credit reports and the companies 
that contribute information into the credit bureaus. The CFPB's 
virtual continuous supervision of the credit reporting system 
began in earnest in early 2012 and, according to the CFPB, has 
produced, and I quote, ``a proactive approach to compliance 
management'' that ``will reap benefits for consumers--and for 
lenders--for many years to come.''
    With respect to data security, credit bureaus are subject 
to Federal and State laws requiring them to safeguard consumer 
data, and because of the key role they play in the banking 
system, they also are subject to very specific private data 
security requirements, such as the payment card industry data 
security standards.
    To begin, credit bureaus are required by the FCRA to 
maintain procedures to ensure that they only provide credit 
reports to legitimate people for legitimate purposes. These 
credentialing requirements go beyond contractual certifications 
and include comprehensive due diligence of prospective 
customers as well as continuous monitoring of existing 
customers.
    The FCRA also requires secure disposal of credit report 
information. In addition, the FTC's Safeguards Rule, as 
referred to by Chairman Crapo, under the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act 
requires financial institutions, including credit bureaus, to 
develop and implement comprehensive information security 
programs. The laws of at least 13 States similarly require 
companies to implement and maintain reasonable procedures to 
safeguard sensitive personal information. Furthermore, almost 
every State requires that companies notify consumers when there 
is unauthorized access to or acquisition of sensitive personal 
information.
    Because of their important role in the banking system, 
credit bureaus are also subject to private contractual data 
security requirements. For example, because the credit bureaus 
handle credit card information, the card networks--Visa, 
MasterCard, et cetera--require that they comply with the 
payment card industry data security standards and validate such 
compliance by obtaining an independent third-party audit of 
their security procedures. In addition, because banks provide a 
great deal of sensitive customer information to the national 
credit bureaus, they are required by their prudential 
regulators to conduct regular information security audits of 
the credit bureaus. These audits can include onsite inspections 
which might last for several days. Each of the three national 
credit bureaus is subject to dozens of these bank reviews each 
year.
    CDIA shares with you the goal of ensuring that consumers 
and businesses have confidence in the ability of the national 
credit reporting system to keep consumer data safe.
    Thank you for the opportunity to testify, and we look 
forward to today's dialogue.
    Chairman Crapo. Thank you.
    Mr. Rotenberg.

  STATEMENT OF MARC ROTENBERG, PRESIDENT, ELECTRONIC PRIVACY 
                       INFORMATION CENTER

    Mr. Rotenberg. Chairman Crapo, Ranking Member Brown, 
Members of the Senate Banking Committee, thank you for the 
opportunity to speak with you today. My name is Marc Rotenberg. 
I am president of the Electronic Privacy Information Center. We 
are an independent nonprofit research organization founded in 
1994 to focus public attention on emerging privacy issues.
    I would like to begin by saying that the Equifax data 
breach is one of the most serious in our Nation's history, on 
par with the 2015 data breach at the Office of Personnel 
Management that impacted more than 22.5 million Federal 
employees, their families, and friends. The Equifax breach 
poses enormous challenges to the security of American families 
and even to our Nation's security.
    There is no simple solution, but in my testimony today I 
will outline the steps that I believe Congress can take to 
mitigate the risks that follow from the breach and reduce the 
danger and likelihood of future data breaches.
    I should also say that the Equifax breach is remarkable 
because of its scope, the sensitivity of the data, and the 
delay to fix a well-documented security flaw. More than 4 
months passed from the time Equifax failed to install critical 
software updates, and the data that was disclosed is precisely 
the information that individuals rely upon to open bank 
accounts, get car loans, seek employment, and buy cell phones. 
The data included names, Social Security numbers, birth dates, 
home addresses, and driver's license information. This is also 
the data that criminals use to commit identity theft and 
financial fraud.
    Equifax is clearly responsible for this breach. The company 
was notified in March by both the Apache Software Foundation 
and U.S.-CERT of the need to make critical software changes. 
But it is also worth emphasizing that Equifax chose to collect 
this personal data on American consumers. Consumers did not 
provide this information to Equifax. And the lax security 
strategy that they followed meant that a single breach resulted 
in the release of 145 million credit reports on American 
consumers.
    The breach will cause unprecedented harm. When hackers get 
access to credit card numbers, consumers can cancel accounts 
and change the credit card numbers. But it is not so easy to 
change a Social Security number, and I do not think it is 
possible to change your date of birth. Equifax's victims will 
be exposed to the ongoing risk of identity theft and financial 
fraud, which is already an enormous problem for American 
consumers. The FTC reported almost 400,000 cases of identity 
theft in the United States in 2016; 29 percent of those cases 
involved tax fraud, and the Department of Justice estimates the 
cost to the U.S. economy at over $15 billion per year.
    The credit reporting industry is in urgent need of reform. 
In my testimony I have outlined a number of steps that I 
believe should be taken to establish accountability and 
transparency. Most simply, consumers need to be given greater 
control about the information about them that impacts their 
financial future.
    This means, for example, that we should have a nationwide 
credit freeze, or to say a little bit more precisely, the 
disclosure of credit reports should be on an opt-in basis. We 
recognize the value of credit in the American economy, but it 
is the consumer who should decide when it is in their interest 
to disclose their information to a third party to obtain a car 
loan. They should not have to jump through hoops to put in 
blocks and freezes to restrict access by others. They should 
make the affirmative decision.
    Credit monitoring should also be freely available. You 
should not have to pay to be told that there is a fraudulent 
activity on your account, but that is the current problem with 
credit monitoring services that require either a fee or limit 
the access to credit monitoring for 90 days. This makes no 
sense whatsoever. If there is a problem in the account, the 
consumer should be notified.
    We also think consumers should have more ready access to 
the contents of the credit report so they know who is receiving 
the information and the impact that the data might have.
    I have several other suggestions in my testimony, which I 
would be pleased to provide for the Committee.
    Thank you.
    Chairman Crapo. Thank you.
    Mr. Jaikaran.

 STATEMENT OF CHRIS JAIKARAN, ANALYST IN CYBERSECURITY POLICY, 
                 CONGRESSIONAL RESEARCH SERVICE

    Mr. Jaikaran. Chairman Crapo, Ranking Member Brown, and 
Members of the Committee, thank you for the opportunity to 
testify on consumer data security and the credit bureaus. My 
name is Chris Jaikaran, and I am an Analyst in Cybersecurity 
Policy at the Congressional Research Service. In this role, I 
research and analyze cybersecurity issues and their policy 
implications, including issues of data security, protection, 
and management.
    My written statement for the record goes into further 
detail, but my testimony today will address data security as an 
element of cybersecurity and risk management, cyberincident 
response, and options for Congress to address data security.
    An increasingly used catchphrase among industry analysts is 
that today ``all companies are technology companies'' or ``all 
companies are data companies.'' This concept reflects that 
information technology and data play an important role in 
enabling the modern business practices which allow companies to 
compete and thrive in the marketplace. However, this reliance 
on IT and data also creates risk for corporate leadership to 
manage. Adequately controlling that risk is an objective of 
cybersecurity.
    Data security is an element of cybersecurity that involves 
risk management. Absolute security is not obtainable, so 
managing the risks which would impair security is the goal. In 
order to evaluate risk, managers need to understand the threats 
their enterprise may face, the vulnerabilities they have, and 
the consequences of an incident.
    Cybersecurity incident response describes activities to 
confirm an attack, discover information about it, and mitigate 
against it.
    For incident response, staff is not limited to just IT 
personnel. Communications staff that are able to craft messages 
to both internal and external stakeholders, legal teams who can 
help with reporting and compliance requirements, and management 
and corporate boards who are accountable for the operations of 
a corporation should all be included in response planning, 
among others, depending on the entity.
    There will be a delay between the discovery of an attack 
and the public notification of that attack because analysis of 
what transpired will need to be conducted. This analysis will 
inform the entity of how they were breached and what data or 
systems were compromised. This type of analysis may be 
conducted by the entity itself, a business partner of the 
entity, Government response teams, and law enforcement. With a 
variety of potential forensic investigators, determining how 
they will coordinate in their response and how they will share 
information among one another is a factor which should be 
determined during the planning and training phase. With 
information on how the breach happened and the extent of the 
breach, the entity can proceed to mitigate its effects. These 
phases need not occur in succession, but may be able to occur 
concurrently.
    I will now briefly present three options Congress could 
consider to address data security.
    Congress could explicitly authorize a Federal regulator to 
examine credit reporting agencies for their adherence to the 
Safeguards Rule, as promulgated by the Federal Trade 
Commission. The dialogue created by the Federal Government and 
credit reporting agencies could lead to greater understand of 
the cybersecurity risk faced by credit reporting agencies and 
allow for those with deficiencies to correct their security 
posture prior to referral for enforcement action.
    Congress could regulate the collection, use, and retention 
of data regardless of the type of entity that houses that data. 
The European Union and Canada have such data laws.
    Congress can establish requirements on what data may be 
collected, how data must be stored, and the consumer's rights 
to collection and use of data about them.
    Congress could require credit reporting agencies, or any 
entity that profits from consumer data, to identify and 
disclose their data model to consumers. Elements such as where 
data is acquired, how it is used, and what other data the 
entity generates about the consumer will provide consumers with 
additional information that may affect their decisions in the 
marketplace.
    Thank you for the opportunity to testify today, and I look 
forward to your questions.
    Chairman Crapo. Thank you very much.
    Before I begin my questions, just to inform the Senators, 
we have a vote at 10:30. Senator Brown and I have discussed it, 
and we intend to keep the hearing running, so we will adjust 
our attendance at the vote, and you can make your plans 
accordingly. But the hearing will continue to proceed during 
the vote.
    The first question I have is for the whole panel, and I am 
going to ask you to be concise. I only have 5 minutes in my 
questioning, as does each of the other Senators. But this is 
for each of the Members of the panel, if you have an opinion on 
this.
    There has been a lot of discussion surrounding the security 
of the Social Security number and whether it should be used as 
an identifier going forward. Do you think we need to get rid of 
the Social Security number as a personal identifier? And if so, 
what viable alternatives do we have? How would we ensure that 
such an alternative does not suffer from the same drawbacks as 
the Social Security number? Mr. Smith, do you want to start?
    Mr. Smith. I think that if we eliminate the Social Security 
number as a personal identifier, we are going to have to have 
something, some other unique identifier that will allow 
businesses, credit bureaus, others to know who precisely they 
are dealing with. So my name is Andrew Smith. There are 
thousands of me, perhaps tens of thousands of me. When you are 
looking at a bankruptcy court record, if there is no identifier 
on there, how do you know which Andrew Smith it is?
    So Socials right now, and other identifiers, play a 
critical role in the economy, just simple identification, 
right? Not authentication, not verification, not that I truly 
am who I say I am. From that perspective, Socials are terrible. 
But as identifiers, Socials have had a role to play.
    Whether we need another identifier, I think that we are 
willing to work with you on that to try to get to the right 
result for consumers.
    Chairman Crapo. Mr. Rotenberg.
    Mr. Rotenberg. Thank you for the question. I have spent 
many years before many congressional committees urging that 
limits be established on the use of the Social Security number, 
but we have never argued for replacing the Social Security 
number. The key point is that the SSN serves an important 
purpose in the management of certain Government record systems. 
That is what it was established for, and that is where the 
legal authority exists.
    The problem is that the SSN was adopted in the private 
sector and used as an identifier for general purposes. This has 
actually contributed to identity theft and financial fraud. It 
is an imperfect identifier. It is used both as a password and 
as an authenticator. It was intended really for neither. So 
when we talk about the Social Security number, we would not say 
replace the SSN. As I describe in my testimony, we would say 
limit the use of the SSN. It should only be available in the 
private sector for lawful purposes.
    Chairman Crapo. Thank you.
    Mr. Jaikaran.
    Mr. Jaikaran. The Social Security number is a piece of 
personally identifiable information, so limiting its use in the 
private sector may lead to reduce consequences that impact if 
there is a data breach. However, whatever replaces it would 
likely still remain personally identifiable information that 
would constitute some level of increased security posture 
around that data in case there were a breach.
    Chairman Crapo. Thank you. And this question is also just 
for you, Mr. Jaikaran. Your testimony discusses encryption and 
other tools that can be used in providing data security. 
Equifax's former CEO mentioned that some of their data is 
encrypted at rest while some of it is not. Are there certain 
minimum data security tools or standards that should be 
employed across the board for data sets containing personally 
identifiable information? Are there measures that, if in place, 
may have been able to prevent the Equifax breach or detected it 
sooner?
    Mr. Jaikaran. So in my testimony I discuss cybersecurity as 
an element of risk management, understanding the entire risk 
that an enterprise or a corporation may face in their conduct 
of their business. There is Federal guidance that is created 
for the implementation of encryption, and there are industry 
best practices on the use of encryption for data at rest, data 
in motion, or data in process. While these may exist, a lot 
depends on how it is implemented and the use cases of each 
individual company for where they apply that encryption, how 
strictly they apply it, and how the keys are managed within 
that enterprise to allow those with legitimate access to 
continue to be able to conduct the business while still 
restricting access to those that do not.
    Chairman Crapo. All right. Thank you very much. And I just 
have about 45 seconds left, so, Mr. Smith and Mr. Rotenberg, 
very briefly, under the current legal framework, the FTC has 
enforcement authority over its Safeguards Rule for data 
security, but no regulatory agency currently examines or 
supervises credit bureaus for data security, as is the case 
with banks.
    Do you think there is a gap in this framework? And do we 
need an agency to be set up or authorized to examine for data 
security?
    Mr. Smith. So as you noted, the FTC has law enforcement 
authority, and we feel as though we are not unsupervised with 
respect to data security. We do, as I said earlier, have our 
bank customers who are regularly auditing us. I would say, 
however, that if there are gaps in supervision, we would be 
happy to talk with you about that and to come up with the most 
sensible result for consumers.
    Chairman Crapo. All right. Thank you.
    Mr. Rotenberg, very quickly.
    Mr. Rotenberg. The FTC Safeguards Rule is an important data 
security standard, but it only applies right now after the 
fact. The FTC can only act against a credit reporting agency 
once the breach occurs. We think they should have the ability 
before the breach to inspect and determine compliance with 
standards.
    Chairman Crapo. Thank you.
    Senator Brown.
    Senator Brown. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
    Mr. Smith, in your testimony you stated the credit 
reporting system ``provides critically important benefits,'' 
and you went on to say it is ``indispensable to the economy.'' 
I think we all agree with that, so my questions are this, and I 
will start with you, Mr. Jaikaran, and please give a ``yes'' or 
``no'' on this, if possible. Do you think that the breach or 
failure of a nationwide credit reporting agency, whether it is 
Equifax or TransUnion or Experian, do you think that a breach 
or failure of one of those agencies could have a systematic--
or, I am sorry, could have a systemic impact on the U.S. 
financial system?
    Mr. Jaikaran. A breach of any agency is difficult to judge, 
depending on the categorization of the agency itself, but it is 
a possibility that it could have impacts on the financial 
system.
    Senator Brown. Mr. Rotenberg.
    Mr. Rotenberg. I think the answer is clearly yes.
    Senator Brown. Mr. Smith.
    Mr. Smith. I think that with respect to the Equifax 
incident, one of the things that we need to keep in mind is 
that, according to the news reports, the credit reporting data 
base was not, in fact, compromised. A compromise of a credit 
reporting data base, I would have to think about whether it 
would present----
    Senator Brown. So you are the one that started off by 
saying it provides critically important benefits, it is 
indispensable to the economy, then a breach of 145 million you 
do not think does have a systemic impact on the U.S. financial 
system?
    Mr. Smith. I think that the risk would be able to be 
managed by banks, but I do think that it is going to be 
something that would need to be actively managed, because what 
it would present----
    Senator Brown. Is that a ``yes'' or a ``no'' to systemic 
impact? ``Could be managed.'' A lot of things could be managed. 
Does that have a systemic impact on the financial system, as 
the two gentlemen to your----
    Mr. Smith. I am not prepared----
    Senator Brown. ----left said yes.
    Mr. Smith. I am not prepared to say that it would have a 
systemic impact, but I would like to think that through.
    Senator Brown. OK. Could you in the next week let me know 
if that is a ``yes'' or ``no''?
    Mr. Smith. Sure. How would you define ``systemic impact''?
    Senator Brown. Well, I am asking you to.
    Mr. Smith. OK.
    Senator Brown. 145 million sounds systemic to me. A No. 
One-fifth that does.
    Mr. Rotenberg, most of us or our family members have faced 
challenges for decades trying to fix inaccuracies in their 
credit reports. These inaccuracies result in Equifax or 
TransUnion or Experian being three of the most complained about 
companies to the CFPB. Do you think it would make sense to 
prevent these consumer reporting agencies from collecting new 
personal data or providing other services until they have met 
an accuracy metric in their consumer credit reporting? And 
second question, related, should consumers be allowed access to 
all the data held by these three companies?
    Mr. Rotenberg. Senator, I think both suggestions are very 
good. I think credit reporting agencies which provide personal 
data to others should be held to an accuracy standard because, 
of course, when they provide information that is inaccurate, 
incomplete, or out of date, people are wrongfully denied 
credit, they are wrongfully denied jobs, and that is certainly 
a problem.
    But also, to your second point, whatever information the 
credit reporting agencies know about us, I think we should have 
the right to know, particularly now when this information is 
being made available for sale for data brokers and oftentimes 
falls outside the protections of the Fair Credit Reporting Act. 
I think we need to do much more to give consumers information 
and control about their personal information held by others.
    Senator Brown. Thank you.
    Mr. Smith, consumer advocates have called for free security 
freezes to be provided by Equifax and TransUnion and Experian. 
Instead, the companies have announced that they are rolling out 
what are called ``credit lock products,'' which appear to give 
consumers fewer rights and less security than credit freezes.
    Are CRAs offering credit locks so consumers have to sign 
forced arbitration agreements just like they had to on 
Equifax's first offer of credit monitoring products?
    Mr. Smith. So can I respond really quickly to the issue of 
access? I wanted to remind the Members of the Committee that 
consumers do have access to all of the information on file 
about them with consumer reporting agencies, and they have free 
access to that through annualcreditreport.com as well as 
through other mechanisms.
    With respect to----
    Senator Brown. Access and correcting are two different 
phenomena, but go ahead.
    Mr. Smith. Yeah, yeah, and they have----
    Senator Brown. But answer the question I asked.
    Mr. Smith. ----dispute and correct. And with respect to the 
credit locks, I am not so familiar with the different features 
of the credit locks, nor do I know whether they have an 
arbitration clause----
    Senator Brown. You do know they did, though, on the first 
round of credit monitoring products that they, let us say, 
quote-unquote, generously offered----
    Mr. Smith. Right, I know----
    Senator Brown. ----they included that, as you know.
    Mr. Smith. Yes.
    Senator Brown. They backed off it under public pressure, as 
you also know.
    Mr. Smith. That I know. I do not think that the impetus for 
offering credit locks would be to obtain a mandatory 
arbitration clause from consumers. I do think that these credit 
locks may be useful to consumers. I think that freezes more 
generally serve a specific need for a specific type of 
consumer. There are a lot of other tools that consumers have 
that can protect themselves in these situations, including 
obtaining a free credit report, placing a fraud alert on their 
credit report, obtaining credit monitoring. There is a lot of 
free credit monitoring available. So I think consumers should 
understand and appreciate that before they place a credit 
freeze on their file. But credit freezes do have their place.
    Senator Brown. I do not want to debate that, but I will 
just close with on the forced arbitration agreement, you are 
their lawyer. You represent them. They also rely on you for 
advice. Are you willing to go back to them and say that there 
is strong sentiment among the public and this Congress that 
forced arbitration agreements should not be part of this credit 
lock offered products?
    Mr. Smith. Yes, I will convey that message. I do think that 
there is a special--there is sort of an exigent circumstance 
when we are talking about credit monitoring and other credit 
report-related products, and there is a statute called the 
``Credit Repair Organizations Act'' which imposes particularly 
stringent penalties on companies, any company that is found to 
be a credit repair organization. And so because of that--and I 
think some Members of the Committee are probably familiar with 
this. Because of that, arbitration clauses have a special role 
to play with these products. But I will certainly convey the 
message that----
    Senator Brown. Would you share with the Committee exactly 
what message you convey to them on forced arbitration?
    Mr. Smith. I will share that.
    Senator Brown [presiding]. Thank you.
    Senator Rounds.
    Senator Rounds. Thank you.
    Gentlemen, regardless of what we put into law, regardless 
of what rules are put in place, if they are not followed, the 
possibilities of an additional breach continue. I am just 
curious. With regard to Equifax, would it be fair to say that 
the data that we have so far, the information that we have so 
far, does it point to basically human error having been the 
cause of the data breach? I would like just a quick response 
from each.
    Mr. Rotenberg. Senator, I think human error understates the 
problem. We are talking about a breach that impacted 145 
million records, a circumstance where the company was twice 
notified by two leading authorities and left the breach exposed 
over a 4-month period. I did not discuss it in my testimony 
this morning, but even the response to the breach was not 
helpful to consumers. So at almost every step, they did the 
wrong thing by consumers.
    Mr. Smith. I believe that Equifax has said publicly that it 
was the result of human error with respect to the question 
about human error. I would add, though, that the FTC and CFPB 
are investigating the breach, and I would want to see what 
their conclusions are before we draw any broader--before we 
make any policy choices based on the fact of this breach.
    Senator Rounds. Mr. Jaikaran.
    Mr. Jaikaran. Based on the amount of information that we 
have regarding this particular breach, it is difficult to judge 
as to whether the breach came down to human error or some other 
reason within the company. So it is difficult to judge at this 
point based on the information we have.
    Senator Rounds. Let us assume that there was human error 
involved in this, recognizing the significant damage that has 
been caused. If we have within our abilities the opportunity to 
lay out a plan in which there is not just an auditable but a 
review process that could be put in place with assurances of 
the follow-through, we are still talking about the protections 
that we put in place for a legal entity that has been breached 
by thieves.
    What more can we do or what more should we be doing to 
prevent this break-in in the first place with regard to 
protections and also the consequences for entities throughout 
the world that actually cause these breaches, that are actually 
overtly out trying to get their hands on the data? Do we need 
to look at additional Federal authorizations or institutions 
that would be literally for the cybercommunity, the same as the 
FBI was when it came to stopping the bank robberies of the 
1920s and 1930s? Do we need to be looking at something like 
that on a worldwide basis?
    Mr. Rotenberg. Senator, I think this is a very important 
point. When the Fair Credit Reporting Act was passed in 1970, 
the primary concern was about the possible misuse of consumer 
data by the credit reporting agencies, and that was the problem 
that Congress sought to address.
    But here we are, almost 50 years later, living in a world 
of constant cyberattack, and in my testimony this morning I 
tried to explain that the Equifax breach needs to be understood 
not just in terms of the misuse of personal data, but actually 
the exploitation by foreign adversaries. And that is also the 
reason, sir, why I think we need to update our privacy laws, 
put more incentives on companies to protect this data, not just 
from misuse but also from exploitation by foreign Governments.
    Senator Rounds. Mr. Smith.
    Mr. Smith. We think that, to the extent that there are gaps 
in supervision of data security, that we are--that we want to 
talk with you about that. We want to get to the right result.
    With respect to Professor Rotenberg's point, there is no 
doubt that this was a criminal hack, that it was from an 
unknown source, that it may have been from a foreign actor, and 
that is something that I think hopefully the FTC and CFPB and 
the other continued investigations will reveal. And if there 
are policy implications from that, hopefully we can have that 
discussion then.
    Senator Rounds. Mr. Jaikaran.
    Mr. Jaikaran. So when we think about the Government 
relationship with these agencies, there are kind of three 
buckets that we could put them in: first is rulemaking, which 
the Federal Trade Commission did with the Safeguards Rule; next 
is examination; and the third is enforcement, which the FTC 
retains.
    In this space we could see that the examination space was 
the one that we had the least Government involvement, so I 
think there presents an opportunity for Congress to create 
further guidance on how they want agencies to act with regard 
to that.
    Concerning the consequences side, to the best of my 
knowledge, attribution still has not been placed for this 
breach, and that would be a conversation to have with law 
enforcement agencies and officials on what authorities they 
think they need in order to go after the criminals here.
    Senator Rounds. See, I think it is important that we 
recognize that there is a standard of security which has to be 
imposed, and we have got to be able to audit it, follow 
through, and with consequences, but also with a continued 
surveillance. But until we get down to the point where there 
are actually consequences for the bad guys involved, we are not 
going to make the major dent that we have to in terms of 
cybertheft elsewhere. And I think we miss that sometimes. We 
are focusing on the people who are trying to provide services. 
We are not focusing on going after the guys who are actually 
causing the problems for everybody else, not just in the United 
States but elsewhere around the world as well.
    Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
    Senator Brown. Senator Reed.
    Senator Reed. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
    Mr. Rotenberg, my sense from your testimony is that--and 
you can confirm this--there are two points at which consumers 
should have legal rights, and one is that they should have the 
legal right to withhold or divulge their credit score, or they 
should know the credit information that an agency has, and that 
should be by law, not by deference of the agency. Is that your 
view?
    Mr. Rotenberg. Yes, that is correct, Senator. When the 
information is being provided in the credit report, presumably 
it is for the consumer's benefit. They are seeking the loan. 
They want to buy the car. They need the mortgage. They should 
know when that is happening, and they should know the 
information that is contained in the report.
    Senator Reed. And that should be by statute, not by 
deference?
    Mr. Rotenberg. Yes. Part of this is about changing the 
default. Right now your credit report is freely available to 
others within the stricture of the Fair Credit Reporting Act, 
but you have very little control over that. We would say give 
the consumer opt-in control.
    Senator Reed. And Mr. Smith indicated that consumers once a 
year have access to all the information that a credit bureau 
has. Is that----
    Mr. Rotenberg. Well, it is true. Once a year they can get a 
free copy of their credit report. It is not all the information 
they have. They do not know who has received the information. 
And as I said, this is also a rapidly evolving industry. There 
are a lot of related practices that are not covered by the 
FCRA, and as a consequence, consumers do not have the full 
picture.
    Senator Reed. So, essentially, they could get the number, 
whatever it is, 400 or 800, and----
    Mr. Rotenberg. Yes.
    Senator Reed. And supplemental information to that number. 
But if, as Senator Brown suggested, the agency was also buying 
cell phone information or something like that, that is not----
    Mr. Rotenberg. That would fall outside of the credit 
report.
    Senator Reed. So that in order to give a citizen the full 
benefits, all information the agency has on them should be 
disclosable. Is that correct?
    Mr. Rotenberg. Yes, Senator. That is why we recommended a 
comprehensive approach based on a Federal baseline. It would 
give consumers more information about them that is being 
transferred to third parties.
    Senator Reed. And I also presume that you would suggest 
that they have the right to deny access to certain information.
    Mr. Rotenberg. Absolutely.
    Senator Reed. Or, in fact, even to require that information 
be deleted from the credit bureau's files.
    Mr. Rotenberg. I think many American consumers would 
actually be surprised to know how many people, how many 
businesses get access to their credit reports without their 
knowledge. Those reports move very freely with very little 
information being provided to consumers, and I think that 
should change.
    Senator Reed. In the description of what took place, it 
appears that there was negligence on behalf of Equifax, you 
know, being told by a Federal regulator to make a patch and not 
making the patch for several months. Does anyone have the right 
to sue or to enforce criminally or administratively?
    Mr. Rotenberg. Well, I am sure there will be lawsuits 
brought, and there are a variety of different theories. But as 
others have already pointed out, almost immediately Equifax's 
response was to try to deny consumers the opportunity to pursue 
their legal remedies, and that cannot be the right response.
    Senator Reed. But with respect to regulatory agencies, the 
impression that I have from the discussion is that it is all 
sort of retrospective, after the fact, that they can go in and 
make a judgment. Could the FTC levy a fine based upon failure 
to solve----
    Mr. Rotenberg. Actually, no. Under the Safeguards Rule, 
they can inspect and they can, I think, sanction. But I think a 
fine would require a subsequent violation of the settlement or 
order with the company, and the FTC under the Safeguards Rule 
currently would not have the ability to inspect or prevent 
prior to the breach occurring.
    Senator Reed. So under existing law, is there any way for 
an appropriate Federal agency to levy a fine or some type of 
significant penalty on the company to deter or to----
    Mr. Rotenberg. I think for the FTC to levy a fine, they 
would have to find a breach under the Fair Credit Reporting 
Act. Under Section 5 of the FTC Act, they have to have a 
consent order and then a subsequent violation. It is not a very 
effective enforcement regime.
    Senator Reed. I concur. Thank you very much.
    Senator Brown. Senator Scott.
    Senator Scott. Thank you, sir. And good morning to the 
panel. Thank you all for being here this morning.
    The Equifax breach is still catastrophic for so many in 
South Carolina. If you think about the numbers of individuals 
impacted by the breach in my home State of South Carolina, 2.4 
million South Carolinians had their personal information 
exposed, stolen, through the Equifax breach. We only have about 
5 million folks living in the State. That is about 48.76 
percent of the State. That is the sixth highest number in the 
country. When you account for the fact that there are about 
500,000 South Carolinians under the age of 14, that means that 
the number surges over 50 percent. So over half of the adult 
population at least in the State had their information exposed.
    Equifax's negligence has been devastating for my 
constituents. But when you look at the geographic location of 
that impact, the Southeast region seems to have been impacted 
aggressively in high levels: Georgia, around 51.6 percent; 
Virginia, around 48.8 percent; Florida, around 53.5 percent.
    I asked Equifax why South Carolina and the Southeastern 
region was so hard hit. I hope they find an answer soon. My 
suspicion is that perhaps the location, the physical location 
of Equifax may have played a role in that.
    Mr. Jaikaran, why are the numbers so high so close to the 
physical headquarters of Equifax?
    Mr. Jaikaran. So that would be difficult to judge based on 
publicly available information, but there might be some 
business reasons why Equifax would have additional information 
on people in the Southeast region of the Nation. They may have 
more business partners with businesses near their headquarters, 
so there is a greater opportunity for sharing of information. 
It may be that the population of those States are prime targets 
for credit, so just the population of the States, the sample 
pool may be more amenable to a credit rating agency.
    Senator Scott. Thank you. Things get complicated when a 
company is headquartered in New Jersey, does business in South 
Carolina, and is breached in Arkansas. These States have very 
different laws on the books governing when and how companies 
must notify the public of a data breach.
    Back to you, Mr. Jaikaran. Is our current State-by-State 
patchwork of regulatory approaches effective in protecting the 
public?
    Mr. Jaikaran. Thank you, Senator. I believe my colleagues 
at the Government Accountability Office, or GAO, would be in a 
better position to evaluate the State-by-State regulatory 
regime we have today. However, as a broader data breach 
notification policy, that does provide a level of certainty for 
both businesses and consumers if there was a Federal rule or a 
Federal law on the data breach notification that is expected 
both for businesses to provide as well as what consumers can 
expect to receive.
    Something that must be considered when developing a data 
breach notification rule, however, or law is what will 
consumers be expected to do with that information. Do they just 
get a letter in the mail saying that their data was compromised 
and they are on their own? Or is there some recourse that the 
business or the corporation that had the data and then had it 
breached must provide to the consumer because the data was 
compromised?
    Senator Scott. So not simply a uniformity across the 
Nation, but also some teeth as it relates to what happens next 
once the consumer is informed.
    Mr. Jaikaran. We see that across State laws now, where some 
of them are just a simple notification and some of them are 
some relationship that the corporation must have with the 
breached consumer.
    Senator Scott. Thank you.
    Mr. Smith, despite the Federal Government also being 
breached pretty frequently, unfortunately, some have suggested 
that we nationalize the credit reporting agencies. Such a move 
would kill innovation, the same innovation that is opening up 
the market of 26 million credit-invisible Americans. I think 
Fannie and Freddie should consider new credit reporting models 
that take into account things like rent payment and utilities. 
Who would benefit the most from such a change, Mr. Smith?
    Mr. Smith. So use of information about rent and utility 
payments by Fannie and Freddie could expand access to mortgage 
credit for younger consumers, recent immigrants, consumers who 
are new to credit, and others without a traditional credit 
file. So the national credit bureaus are already able to 
collect this information from landlords and utilities and have 
built the systems necessary to do that. And as you know, the 
credit bureaus over the last 50 years have been successful in 
expanding access to credit to folks who previously may not have 
had that access.
    But I think ultimately it is going to be Fannie's and 
Freddie's decision whether or not these utility and rent 
payments are actually predictive of the risk of default that 
they are trying to manage.
    Senator Scott. We certainly understand that Freddie and 
Fannie will have to make their own decisions, but the question 
was who benefits from it, and it sounds like to me that the 
population that benefits the most are those folks who are 
disproportionately represented today in homeownership.
    Mr. Smith. Yeah, well, folks who are creditworthy but we 
cannot tell because they do not have traditional credit report 
information, specifically people who are new to credit, I 
think.
    Senator Scott. So I think the number--Senator Brown, I know 
you were thinking about South Carolina when I was talking 
there. The number is about 16 percent of South Carolinians who 
are today credit-invisible would become credit-visible and 
would show the responsible pattern that would allow them to own 
a home.
    Thank you. Thank you, sir.
    Senator Brown. Thanks, Senator Scott. And my State is 5 
million out of 11.6 million, so it is mid- to high 40 percent 
also.
    Senator Scott. Thank you.
    Senator Brown. Senator Cortez Masto.
    Senator Cortez Masto. Thank you. Gentlemen, thank you so 
much for the conversation.
    Mr. Smith, I wanted to start with you. As you note in your 
testimony, the CFPB's supervision of credit bureaus relates 
primarily to the accurate furnishing and reporting of credit 
data, and the CFPB does not generally provide for in-house 
supervisors. However, in the wake of the Equifax breach, 
Director Cordray has indicated that the CFPB supervision teams 
may be assigned to reside at the Big Three nationwide consumer 
reporting bureaus and monitor cybersecurity and data protection 
practices. Wouldn't you agree that this is an important 
development?
    Mr. Smith. Well, so when you look at Director Cordray's 
comments, I think you are talking about his CNBC, or something, 
comments on television. He said initially that the CFPB does 
not have authority over data security, and it seems as though 
the folks on the panel agree with that. Whether there is an 
appropriate role for a supervisor for data security at the 
credit bureaus, we want to talk with you about that and come up 
with the best result for consumers. It may be that if there is 
such a role to be played, that the CFPB is not the best person 
for the role, or it could very well be that they are.
    Senator Cortez Masto. Thank you.
    Mr. Rotenberg, do you think this would be helpful? And let 
me put this in context because prior to my role here, I spent 
the last 8 years as Attorney General of Nevada. Nevada had one 
of the highest identity theft rates in the country, and I can 
tell you the breach that happened with Equifax is not equal to 
the breach that happened at a Target store or somewhere else. 
What happened with Equifax is now there is the potential of 
millions of Americans' identities being stolen. And if you have 
ever been the victim of identity theft, the rest of your life 
you are trying to reclaim your identity. And it is not just 
clearing up your credit. It is addressing somebody who has 
purchased a boat in your name, purchased a house in your name, 
committed a crime in your name when you are showing up in court 
and trying to identify that that person who committed a crime 
has stolen your identity. This is lifelong, and it is going to 
have a major impact on millions of Americans, and that is why 
this is so egregious. And we have to do a better job of 
protecting individuals' data and information because you are 
collecting it without their approval, and then they have to 
succumb to years of trying to clear up all of that data.
    So my concern now is: How do we address it? How do we put 
limits on the data we collect? I know we are talking about more 
cybersecurity protection and making sure there is oversight 
over the companies. But if there is human error, or whatever 
occurred, it is going to happen again.
    So is there some limit to the data that we should be 
collecting besides all of the other discussion that we talked 
about today? And so, Mr. Rotenberg, I am curious, your thoughts 
on that.
    Mr. Rotenberg. Well, Senator, to your first point, I think 
it would be a step in the right direction to have supervisory 
authority through CFPB at the credit reporting agencies. I 
think that makes a lot of sense. But, of course, that is only 
to prevent against future data breaches, and the question is 
what to do now for American consumers who confront the reality 
that others are in possession--we call these the 
``authenticators.'' This is the information that is used to 
establish your identity in commercial transactions. And this is 
the reason that we think we need to change the default on 
credit freezes. People should know from this point going 
forward anytime anyone wants access to their credit report. And 
people should know from this time going forward anytime there 
is suspicious activity on their credit reporting account. They 
should not have to select this service or pay for this service.
    Senator Cortez Masto. And I absolutely agree.
    Mr. Rotenberg. It should be built into the industry.
    Senator Cortez Masto. And I am going to cut you off, and I 
apologize because I only have so much time. I absolutely agree, 
and because there has been talk about uses of the Social 
Security number and limiting it in the private use, but I do 
not know about you, but when you go to set up your house and 
you set up your utilities, they ask for your Social Security 
number. When you go to your doctor's office, they ask for your 
Social Security number. This number has become so prevalent as 
an identifier, I do not know how you pull it back from the 
private sector. And, quite honestly, I do not know how you 
protect against anybody having access to it, because I can tell 
you a bad guy is going to be able to go online, and if it has 
already been used and out there, they are going to find it.
    So, more importantly for my purpose and I think all of our 
purposes, really shouldn't it be now giving the consumer the 
absolute right to control their information and how it is being 
used?
    Mr. Rotenberg. Absolutely, Senator, I think that is key. 
But if I could say briefly on the Social Security number, we 
have actually made some progress limiting its use. In fact, 
with credit to Senator Collins and Senator McCaskill, the 
Social Security number is now coming off the medical benefits 
ID card because its use there was contributing to identity 
theft among American seniors. We helped get the Social Security 
number off the State driver's license. The Social Security 
number is no longer published in the State voter rolls.
    So this is an issue that can be addressed, but Congress 
will have to get behind an initiative that says to the private 
sector we have to limit the use of the SSN.
    Senator Cortez Masto. Thank you. I appreciate the comments. 
I notice my time is up. Thank you.
    Chairman Crapo [presiding]. Senator Kennedy.
    Senator Kennedy. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
    Gentlemen, I am sorry I missed your presentations. Why 
should we not pass legislation that would establish that the 
bureaus have a fiduciary obligation to the people whose data 
they collect and earn a profit off of?
    Mr. Rotenberg. Well, I think you should, Senator. I think 
some of that legislation is already in place with the Gramm-
Leach-Bliley Act, but I think more needs to be done. And I 
think your description of a fiduciary relationship is 
absolutely correct.
    Senator Kennedy. Do you think there is a fiduciary 
relationship now?
    Mr. Rotenberg. No, I do not. I do not think the companies 
feel that they have an obligation to American consumers, and I 
think----
    Senator Kennedy. Do you gentlemen agree with that? I am 
sorry to cut you off.
    Mr. Smith. No, I disagree with that. No, I would not 
characterize it----
    Senator Kennedy. You disagree with that?
    Mr. Smith. ----as a fiduciary duty.
    Senator Kennedy. I am sorry. You disagree or agree?
    Mr. Smith. I disagree. I would not----
    Senator Kennedy. And you represent the bureaus----
    Mr. Smith. We represent the industry. We are subject to a 
pervasive regulatory scheme in this statute here, the Fair 
Credit Reporting Act, that requires us to ensure the accuracy 
of information in credit reports that requires us to----
    Senator Kennedy. Were you and your clients attempting--when 
the Equifax breach was made public, weren't you trying to pass 
legislation that would lessen your clients' liability?
    Mr. Smith. There was legislation that had been introduced 
that would introduce a cap on potential liability for private 
actions. That cap, though, would have been----
    Senator Kennedy. Do you think that was a good idea?
    Mr. Smith. The FCRA is unique among consumer credit 
protection statutes in that it does not have a cap on class 
action liability. So Truth in Lending, Equal Credit 
Opportunity, Fair Debt Collection, EFTA--all of these have 
caps. FCRA does not. The effort here----
    Senator Kennedy. Do you still believe your client should 
have caps, counselor?
    Mr. Smith. As a trade association, we would continue to 
argue for caps on----
    Senator Kennedy. Is that a ``yes''?
    Mr. Smith. That is a ``yes.''
    Senator Kennedy. OK. Well, here is my problem. If the 
bureaus do their jobs right, they facilitate commerce, because 
when lenders loan money to people, the lenders want to get paid 
back. And what your clients offer is one assessment of the risk 
that the lenders are taking. It is just one assessment. There 
are others who do not use online lending. Many online lenders 
do not use your clients' product anymore. They think there are 
other ways, better ways to assess risk. I am not saying they 
are right or wrong. I am saying that your clients basically 
take my data, personal information about me, without my 
permission; and as a business model, they sell it to 
businesses. I am not compensated.
    Now, if they lose my data, as Equifax did, or if someone 
submits to them data that is in error that undermines my credit 
score, the bureaus have no obligation or interest right now to 
work with me to try to get the credit score correct.
    Have you ever had one of the bureaus get your credit score 
wrong and you called and tried to get it fixed? Have any of 
you?
    Mr. Jaikaran. No, I have not, Senator.
    Mr. Rotenberg. No, Senator.
    Senator Kennedy. Well, it is not an easy process. And it 
would seem to me that--I am not trying to undermine the 
bureaus, but it seems to me, first of all, that you could 
develop technology very easily that would allow people to go to 
an app on their phone to put a credit freeze on and off free of 
charge. That ought to be a minimum.
    Number two, you need to explain to the American people how 
you are protecting their data on which your clients are making 
a profit. Most of the adults in Louisiana had their data stolen 
by Equifax. And they had to go to a lot of trouble to go freeze 
credit. Some of them are going to have their identities stolen. 
And it is just not right. It is just not right. And we are 
looking to you gentlemen to tell us what to do about it. And, 
counselor, I do not mean to pick on you, and I understand you 
are representing your clients, but your clients need to step up 
to the plate here and suggest some meaningful reforms, or some 
reforms are going to be suggested to them.
    Mr. Smith. Right. Well----
    Senator Kennedy. And my advice to you would be to step up 
to the plate and offer specific things that you and your 
clients are going to do to improve this situation, not 
platitudes, not bromides, specific suggestions.
    Mr. Smith. Right.
    Senator Kennedy. Because a lot of Americans did not know 
what a credit bureau was. They know now.
    I went over. I am sorry, Mr. Chairman.
    Chairman Crapo. Thank you.
    Senator Warren.
    Senator Warren. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
    So at the hearing 2 weeks ago with the former CEO of 
Equifax, there was a lot of agreement between Democrats and 
Republicans that consumers should be able to control their own 
data, and without consumer control, credit reporting companies 
really have no reason to treat us well. We are not their 
customers. We are just their products. And it shows.
    A 2012 study by the Federal Trade Commission found that one 
out of every five people had an error in their credit reports. 
Meanwhile, over last year the Consumer Financial Protection 
Bureau has fielded hundreds of thousands of consumer 
complaints. And the Big Three credit reporting agencies are now 
the three most complained about companies in the entire 
financial services industry.
    You know, if you ran a restaurant and got your customers' 
orders wrong 20 percent of the time and had the worst customer 
service in town, you would be out of business in a week. But 
credit reporting companies, not them. They are getting bigger, 
they are getting richer, and they are getting more powerful. 
This market is clearly broken, and fixing it starts with giving 
customers more control over their own data.
    So, Mr. Rotenberg, I have introduced the FREE Act with 
Senator Schatz and more than a dozen other Senators. Our bill 
would let every consumer freeze and unfreeze access to their 
credit files for free.
    So I want to ask: Do you think that would be a good idea to 
give consumers more control over their data?
    Mr. Rotenberg. Senator Warren, I think it is an excellent 
proposal, and as you say, I think the key to this industry is 
giving consumers greater control over the use of their personal 
data. It begins by moving to an opt-in model, allowing the 
consumer to decide in which circumstances it is in their 
interest for their credit report to be released to someone 
else.
    Senator Warren. Thank you. You know, companies like Equifax 
do more than issue credit reports. They also sell your 
information to businesses that want to sell something in turn 
back to the customer. Our bill also makes clear that no credit 
reporting agency can sell your data if your credit file is 
frozen. Other legislative proposals and the new lock that 
Equifax is rolling out right now do not give customers that 
right.
    So let me ask this part: Do you think that consumers should 
have the right to freeze the data so that it stops a credit 
reporting agency from selling access to the consumer's data?
    Mr. Rotenberg. Absolutely, Senator. The model does not work 
unless consumers maintain control, and so many problems of the 
industry result from the industry pushing the burdens back onto 
the consumers to choose the freeze, to choose the monitoring 
service, to inspect their credit reports. It is entirely upside 
down, and it is the reason that we have record levels of 
identity theft today in the U.S.
    Senator Warren. Thank you. I think that is a powerful 
point. You know, if companies like Equifax do not pay us to 
sell our information to other people, then we should not have 
to pay them to stop selling it.
    According to your testimony, you were saying--and I think 
you mentioned this earlier, Mr. Rotenberg--you would go even 
further. You would make the default position that a consumer's 
account is frozen until the credit reporting agency gets the 
consumer's explicit permission to unfreeze the account to share 
the data. In other words, consumers would have to opt into 
sharing their data rather than opt out. What is the reason for 
that?
    Mr. Rotenberg. Senator, I think it is just common sense. No 
one is objecting to the provision of credit to American 
consumers. It is obviously critical for our economy, makes it 
possible for people to purchase homes and cars and even cell 
phones. But it is the consumer who is initiating the commercial 
transaction; it is the consumer who is seeking the mortgage or 
the loan. The consumer should decide when to release that 
credit record information to others, and they should know, by 
the way, what information is contained in the credit report. 
They may be wrongfully denied a loan from a bank that the bank 
would provide but for the fact that the credit reporting agency 
has provided inaccurate information.
    Senator Warren. All right. So powerfully important that we 
be able to protect our own privacy, that we be able to make 
sure that it is accurate. In your testimony, though, you raised 
one more point. You say we need to fix the credit reporting 
industry in order to protect our national security. I am about 
out of time, but could you just say a word about that?
    Mr. Rotenberg. Very briefly, Senator, I mentioned earlier 
that when the Fair Credit Reporting Act was passed in 1970, the 
concern was the misuse of personal data by the credit reporting 
agency. That concern remains. But what has changed now almost 
50 years later is that data is now the target of foreign 
adversaries, and we have to realistically consider that the 
people who get access to our personal data held by these 
companies have interests adverse to our Nation. That is an 
additional reason to strengthen these privacy laws.
    Senator Warren. Thank you very much. You know, the credit 
reporting agency is a threat to each of us personally, but it 
is also a threat to our national security. We need to give 
consumers more control over their data, need to reform this 
industry, and that is what we are trying to do with the FREE 
Act. Thank you very much.
    Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
    Chairman Crapo. Thank you.
    Senator Tillis.
    Senator Tillis. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Gentlemen, thank 
you for being here.
    One question that I have, when you have something like the 
breach at Equifax, Congress has never seen a legitimate problem 
that needs to be dealt with, an opportunity to overreact. And 
so one of the things that I am concerned with is when we have 
this discussion--I want to start with something simple, and 
then maybe I can build on things to the extent time allows. But 
when we had the Equifax CEO in here, I tried to ask him the 
question of the lock--they are calling it ``Lock for Life''--
versus delete.
    Mr. Rotenberg, where are you on the option of the consumer 
being able to delete any presence of their existence in any of 
the Big Three credit reporting agencies? Do you think that is 
something they should be entitled to do?
    Mr. Rotenberg. Well, I do, Senator. In fact, this country 
has a long tradition of expungement of financial records to 
give people the opportunity to start over, even after 
bankruptcy. So we have already recognized that people should be 
given the opportunity to, you know, reapply for credit, even 
after they have had those type of experiences.
    Senator Tillis. So if they delete it and then later they 
were seeking credit and they had no reliable sources for 
showing creditworthiness, who is it on to provide all the 
information that may be needed to underwrite a loan or get a 
credit card or some other financial instrument? Anybody on the 
panel is welcome to opine----
    Mr. Rotenberg. Well, I would just say in those 
circumstances, of course, the absence of the background 
information could well be a factor in the credit determination. 
But that is not a reason not to give the consumer the 
opportunity to delete the data if the consumer chooses to do 
so.
    Senator Tillis. But at the end of the day, the consumer 
needs to be fully aware it could be on them to actually produce 
information that could be used as a basis to underwrite--the 
absence of information would likely result in no credit being 
extended.
    Mr. Smith. Here is another concern, Senator. What happens 
if the consumer selectively deletes information? So I have 
three credit cards, and I have decided that I am not going to 
pay one of them, and I delete that trade line from my file. How 
will a bank be able to manage that credit risk if consumers can 
delete accurate and relevant information?
    And with respect to this fresh start idea, the FCRA already 
allows for that. Any information that is derogatory in your 
credit record comes off after 7 years.
    Senator Tillis. I think one thing that--when we discussed 
this with the breach, I think one thing that the credit 
reporting agencies need to demonstrate is that they do not make 
their problem the consumer's problem. In other words, if you 
have a breach, then you should be treating that consumer like 
you will move heaven and earth to clear up the problem. It 
should not be something that requires months of paperwork and 
hours of their time to clean up, if, in fact, you can point it 
back to the breach, and that is something I will be interested 
in seeing how Equifax handles it.
    But I am concerned, Mr. Rotenberg, with the idea of just 
the aggregation of data that is used to predict how cohorts 
may, you know, behave in terms of creditworthiness, that if we 
continue to reduce the base, do you think there is any threat 
to the fact that we have less reliable information to move 
capital or to provide resources to people who need it?
    Mr. Rotenberg. I think it is important for businesses to 
have access to relevant and accurate consumer data. I think 
they should be accountable and transparent about how that data 
is being used.
    Senator Tillis. Would you consider then the selective 
deletion of credit data as being accurate and relevant data for 
the financial services industry?
    Mr. Rotenberg. It may or may not be. I mean, the credit 
decision is based on a wide variety of factors, many of which, 
by the way, are not even known to consumers. So we do not know 
how they are making determinations about us, yet they are 
concerned if they do not know everything about us when they 
make their decisions. And that just seems a little unfair.
    Senator Tillis. One other in my remaining time. I was not 
here, but I think someone else answered the question. But what 
do you think is the--what technologies or maybe what processes 
out there are we using to get away from Social Security numbers 
as authentication methods and moving more to say what the card 
industry has done with tokenization, trying to come up with 
some sort of an identity that will actually eliminate or 
substantially reduce what is a relatively easy thing to do, and 
that is, to get somebody's indicative information and commit 
fraud? I mean, what is out there that we should be looking at 
and as a matter of public policy should be promoting? Go right 
down the line, and my time is expired after this answer.
    Mr. Jaikaran. I am sorry, Senator. I am not aware of any 
particular token products that could be used. One point to know 
with the use of technology, though, is that there may be people 
in the sample size, citizens, consumers, that do not have 
access to something like a cell phone, so they would be barred 
from participating in the widespread use of technology, and 
that is one consideration to make when establishing public 
policy.
    Mr. Rotenberg. I think as a general matter, if we have 
distributed and contextualized identity, in other words, the 
company learns only what it needs to learn to make a decision, 
that is the best approach. Today we are at the opposite end of 
the spectrum with an open-ended identifier that makes it 
possible for companies to learn just about anything they want 
to about an individual.
    Mr. Smith. So I think that if we did not have the Social, 
we would need to invent it. So if we take away the Social, we 
will need to come up with another unique identifier.
    As I said earlier, with a name like Andrew Smith, it is 
critically important that people are able to distinguish 
between the thousands or tens of thousands of individuals named 
Andrew Smith just simply to identify which one are you--not 
necessarily to authenticate that I am indeed who I say I am, 
but just which one are you. And the Social plays a critical 
role there. And if not the Social, then we need something else 
to fill that role.
    Senator Tillis. Thank you.
    Chairman Crapo. Thank you.
    Senator Schatz.
    Senator Schatz. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
    Mr. Smith, after the Equifax breach, consumers learned that 
the best way to protect themselves from identity theft and 
fraud was to freeze their credit report. But when they went to 
do that, they found a complicated process that required 
contacting each of the three credit bureaus, generating and 
remembering separate PINs for each and, most infuriating, 
paying 10 bucks to each bureau to place the freeze, not to 
mention the fees that they have to incur if they want to lift 
the freeze later. Equifax's lapse in data security will be 
rewarded by hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue to the 
company that made the mistake.
    And so my question for you is very simple: Explain to me 
why Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion charge people to freeze 
their credit report when there is a mistake that is their 
fault.
    Mr. Smith. Well, so there are a lot of ways for consumers 
to protect themselves, and for certain consumers freezes are 
the right choice. I personally----
    Senator Schatz. And so in those--hold on.
    Mr. Smith. OK.
    Senator Schatz. In those instances why is it not free? If 
the consumer----
    Mr. Smith. Right now we have--as you know, right now we 
have a patchwork of laws, and if we are to have a single 
national standard, I think that, you know, we would be happy to 
talk with you about how to get that result right for consumers. 
But it----
    Senator Schatz. Well, what has that got to do with--a 
patchwork of laws, what has that got to do with anything? I am 
asking----
    Mr. Smith. Because the patchwork----
    Senator Schatz. Hold on.
    Mr. Smith. Right.
    Senator Schatz. I am asking you when a mistake occurs and 
144 million people are told to do a certain thing, that certain 
thing should be free, shouldn't it?
    Mr. Smith. I do not know that everyone was told to freeze 
their credit report. Personally, I do not think it is the right 
choice for everyone. I do think that the credit bureaus make 
the freeze----
    Senator Schatz. But it is the right choice for some number 
of millions of Americans, is it not?
    Mr. Smith. I believe that all three of the nationwide 
credit bureaus make freezes available for free to individuals 
who say that they are identity theft victims. I believe that 
they also make freezes available for free to senior citizens 
and to minors.
    As far as a national freeze requirement, I think that we 
would----
    Senator Schatz. I am not asking you about a requirement. I 
am asking you why you generate revenue off of the mistakes of 
the organizations that you represent.
    Mr. Smith. Well, the why is because freezes cost money, and 
also the State laws----
    Senator Schatz. But the locks are free, right?
    Mr. Smith. ----permit a charge--locks, I do not know from, 
I am afraid. I saw the testimony from the CEO of Equifax----
    Senator Schatz. You are the counsel for this organization.
    Mr. Smith. These are new products--I am a counsel for the 
trade association, but I know that there are all kinds of new 
products that credit bureaus and others are rolling out that 
can take advantage of, for example, apps on a mobile device and 
lock and unlock. But I do not know that those--any of those 
products are necessarily in the market now.
    Senator Schatz. I do not understand what you are saying, 
and I do not think that it is because I do not understand this 
area. I think it is because I do not understand what you are 
saying because at a common-sense level--I want you to try to 
explain to somebody you went to high school with--right?--who 
says, ``Oh, you got a gig with the CRAs. Good for you. How is 
that going? Let me ask you a question, Andrew. Why do I have to 
pay for a freeze?'' And I do not think you answered that 
question.
    Mr. Smith. And the answer is because freezes cost money. 
Freezes have to be implemented by the credit bureaus.
    Senator Schatz. Then the question is: Why did the company 
that made the mistake make a profit off of that mistake? Why 
are you charging consumers? Even if the freezes cost money, 
fine, you should eat it because that would create an incentive 
to not screw up again.
    Mr. Smith. I thought Equifax was providing freezes for 
free.
    Senator Schatz. But my question is: Why not all three, and 
why not as a matter of course? And that only occurred after the 
CEO quit and under great pressure.
    Mr. Smith. I thought they offered freezes for free right up 
front.
    Senator Schatz. No. I want to ask you a couple of questions 
related to a bill that I have introduced. Do you think it is a 
good idea for credit bureaus to use tighter matching 
requirements so that the trade lines on someone's credit report 
are more likely to be their own information?
    Mr. Smith. I think that matching algorithms are a really 
tricky issue, as I am sure you have done some thinking about 
it, and it is really a question of probabilities and 
statistics, and I am not sure that we necessarily want to 
legislate that. But matching is critically important for 
accuracy.
    Senator Schatz. And what is your error rate, roughly?
    Mr. Smith. We believe that our error rate--so the FTC did a 
study, of course, as you know, in 2012. We did a similar study, 
and we believe that the error rate from our study is less than 
1 percent. Looking at the FTC's study, we believe--and this is 
in an appendix to the FTC's study. Based on the FTC's data, we 
believe that the error rate is about 2 percent.
    Now, error is an important concept here, though. It has to 
be an error that moves the needle, that would have an effect on 
the consumer. So they get my date of birth wrong. That is not 
necessarily an error if it does not move the needle on my 
credit score.
    Senator Schatz. So you are talking about even at the low 
end--even at the low end of the estimate, you are talking about 
a million, 2 million individuals who have----
    Mr. Smith. Absolutely, and that is not acceptable. And I 
think that----
    Senator Schatz. And whose responsibility is that?
    Mr. Smith. Well, it is a lot of people's responsibility, 
but it is to some extent the credit bureaus' responsibility. 
And as far as accuracy is concerned, accuracy--Professor 
Rotenberg in his written testimony said that, look, you are 
never going to have perfect data security, there are always 
going to be breaches; the best we can do is to try to control 
them up front.
    Accuracy is the same way. It is a process.
    Senator Schatz. I am over time. I will just add that I 
understand that you are going to make mistakes. The basic 
question is: Who should incur the costs of those mistakes--you 
guys or the rest of the country?
    Thank you.
    Chairman Crapo. Senator Perdue.
    Senator Perdue. Thank you, Chair. Thank you, guys, for 
being here. It is a very complicated conversation.
    Let me start with something we are working on to codify 
something across 47 States. Right now, if you want to, you have 
to opt out, basically. In other words, I never gave permission 
to anybody to get that data, although it does provide a service 
so that I do not have to aggregate all my credit information 
when I want to go borrow something. So I get that. But at the 
Equifax breach hearing I think just 2 weeks ago, we asked 
questions regarding the need for a national standard on credit 
freezes, and I think Representative McHenry has already--he has 
the PROTECT Act that you may be familiar with that they are 
proposing. It creates a national standard for credit freezes, 
harmonizing the current 47 State laws on the issue.
    I would like to get all three of you to comment. Do you 
agree that that would help allow the development of technology 
such as apps that could freeze and unfreeze without having to 
go through the process and so somebody could actually open up, 
get the credit information they need, and then opt out easily, 
without having to have a lot of instruction? Is that something 
that might benefit us here?
    Mr. Smith. So as I said earlier, freezes are not the right 
choice for everybody necessarily, but they are the right choice 
for some people, and, you know, the development of a national 
standard is something that we would welcome.
    With respect to this lock and unlock functionality, I would 
ask you to consider that whenever we legislate something like 
this, the questions that come up say, ``Well, what about the 
people who do not have smartphones? What are we going to do 
about them?''
    ``Well, OK, we are going to have a lock and unlock 
functionality where you dial an 800 number. Well, what about 
the people who do not have easy access to a telephone? Well, we 
will have a mail-in.''
    Senator Perdue. But they would not be--just so I am clear, 
they would not be in the system--in other words, I could not 
access their data unless they----
    Mr. Smith. Flipped the switch.
    Senator Perdue. Unless they were to come back and do 
something like this, on an 800 number or whatever, when they 
needed it.
    Mr. Smith. Correct. But then you think to yourself, OK, let 
us do an 800 number. Well, that is going to present a security 
risk that someone else unlocks my credit when they are applying 
for an auto loan on a Saturday afternoon. So that means a PIN. 
So I do not know what my PIN is, I have forgotten it. Well, 
then you are going to have to reset your PIN. And before you 
know it, you are not going to get that new cell phone at the 
Verizon store on a Saturday afternoon. You are going to have to 
go reset your PIN. You are going to have to go back to the 
Verizon store the next weekend, and hopefully it will work out.
    But, see, there is a lot of friction in the system, and 
these freezes and locks are difficult to administer, and that 
is why they are not necessarily the right choice for everybody. 
But for some people who are not credit active, who are not 
buying cell phones or renting apartments.
    Mr. Rotenberg. Senator, I actually think it is a good 
proposal, and I think it is a step in the right direction. I 
am, frankly, a little confused by Mr. Smith's comments. Most of 
what he is describing are the difficulties that the industry 
has created in giving consumers the ability to select the 
freeze, to limit the access by others. And what the legislation 
I think would accomplish is to simplify that process, make it 
easier for people to make those decisions precisely so they can 
have the credit record information available when they need it 
to be made available.
    Mr. Jaikaran. Regarding any congressional action in this 
space, it is an interesting public policy question, because 
there are these groups of data brokers who have this 
information and they have their business relationships with 
those that they acquire information from and those that they 
sell the information to. However, the information is the 
consumer's. And the relationship between the data broker and 
the consumer is a little weaker compared to who they are 
selling data to and who they are acquiring it from. The 
weakness in that link is a space where Federal policy may be 
able to bridge the gap between the rights of the consumer and 
the rights of the data broker, or the right of the data broker 
relative to the consumer of their own data.
    Senator Perdue. All right. Thank you. Let us talk about 
Social Security numbers for a minute, if I may. The same thing. 
Adoption of Social Security numbers as a method goes back, I 
think, to the 1960s. But in the last half-century, our 
technology has moved fairly rapidly forward. Is there a better 
way? The new technologies we have in front of us, isn't there a 
better, more secure way to matching people with accounts such 
as tokenization, or should all of these cyberattacks with--and 
should all these cyberattacks be the impetus to start planning 
out what transition to credit future without Social Security 
numbers? Social Security numbers seem to me to be the Holy 
Grail here that is the access beyond what any reasonable person 
would want. Is that a reasonable direction?
    Mr. Rotenberg. Senator, I think the key here is to limit 
the use of the SSN but not replace it. In other words, it is 
the weak link in the information industry. It is the target of 
identity thieves. And if you are trying to make your industry 
more resilient against those attacks, you have to reduce your 
dependency on the SSN. But, you see, if you replace the SSN 
with another general purpose identifier, that becomes the 
target. So we need a more distributed approach to 
identification, not a single point of failure. That is what the 
SSN has become.
    Senator Perdue. Well, it is pretty obvious to me we have 
got to engage on this, but we do not have a common answer yet 
to this security issue. Thank you. I am out of time.
    Thank you, Mr. Chair.
    Chairman Crapo. Senator Heitkamp.
    Senator Heitkamp. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
    Not to extend the discussion on when you can put a credit 
freeze on or put a lock on, it is interesting you said you 
can--Mr. Smith, you said you can put a lock on after you have 
been a victim of identity theft. That is kind of like saying, 
you know, lock the door after the thief went in your house. I 
mean, it is just not--it is not responsive to what we are 
trying to get at here, which is we understand the benefit of an 
aggregator of data that gives us easier access to credit. I 
think no one is disagreeing with that.
    The question is--and you were asked about fiduciary 
obligations, and the question really is: What responsibility 
does that aggregator have when something like this happens?
    Now, when Mr. Smith was here, the previous Mr. Smith, 
Equifax----
    Mr. Smith. No relation.
    Senator Heitkamp. Yeah, I figured that. He said, ``This 
happens all the time. You know, we are hit all the time.'' And 
I asked, ``Well, in light of that, then why did you seem so ill 
prepared when you were actually breached? Why did it take you 
so long to come up with a response to the breach?''
    So I have got a series of questions on: How often does this 
happen? And what is the general response that the industry has? 
So as a general matter, how many times per year on average 
would a company like Equifax, TransUnion, or Experian 
experience--how often would you experience a breach that would 
be reported to the FBI?
    Mr. Smith. So, unfortunately, I do not have those figures. 
We can find them. I would say that, based on my personal 
knowledge, none of the credit bureaus themselves have been 
breached. Now, the companies--in Equifax's case, it was 
information that was outside of the consumer reporting agency 
data base. We also know of a breach at Experian involving data 
of T-Mobile. So there are breaches that occur, and we will come 
up with a number for how frequently they occur. But to the best 
of my knowledge, there has never been a security breach of a 
consumer reporting agency data base.
    Senator Heitkamp. And that is splitting a hair for the 
consumers. I do not think there is any doubt about it.
    Mr. Smith. Well, but it is an important policy point, I 
think, because if the FTC and CFPB after their investigations 
conclude that the consumer reporting agency data base was not 
breached, after Equifax was subjected to this punishing attack, 
that might inform our policy choices.
    Senator Heitkamp. The next question I have is: Let us say 
that you report it to the FBI. What is the typical guidelines 
or strategies that any of these credit agencies, any of them 
would basically go to? Do you have like a fire drill, in other 
words? Do you have a system in place that will lock down and 
protect data?
    Mr. Smith. Right. So now, of course, I cannot speak for any 
particular company, but the companies with which I am familiar 
have incident response plans, and they have done the table--
they call it a ``tabletop exercise'' where, you know, all the 
stakeholders are around the table and we run through, you know: 
What is the public statement going to be? What are we going to 
do with respect to our call centers? How do we inform law 
enforcement? How are we going to do the consumer notifications? 
That kind of stuff.
    Senator Heitkamp. You know, but you would have to agree 
that Equifax was pretty ill prepared.
    Mr. Smith. I do not know. I think this was an unprecedented 
breach. So I would rather not speak to----
    Senator Heitkamp. Even if it is 10 people, the response 
should be the same as if it were 140 million people.
    Mr. Smith. Well, except think about your call center, for 
example. So rather than ten calls--ten calls you can handle. A 
hundred and forty million on 1 day?
    Senator Heitkamp. Well, doesn't that beg the question of 
why people here are upset? I mean, you had Senator Kennedy 
basically say, look, this is not data that you own. You do not 
have a relationship with the consumer other than an aggregator 
that provides that service. If I say, ``I do not want your 
service, I will aggregate my own data, I will take 
responsibility,'' I have to pay you so that you are not 
collecting my data. Correct?
    Mr. Smith. Not collecting. This is a freeze, right? The 
data is still there, but you have frozen it, and you have the 
right to unfreeze it.
    Senator Heitkamp. You know, in Europe, all across the EU, 
there is a whole lot of privacy initiatives: the right to be 
forgotten--you know, we are getting close to that here. We have 
been a much more open economy as it relates to this kind of 
data aggregation. The more we do not see a response, the closer 
we are to that pendulum that Senator Tillis talked about, which 
is the potential that you guys are going to be out of business 
because every American is going to say, ``We do not want your 
service.''
    Mr. Smith. No; absolutely, we need to ensure that consumers 
and businesses trust the national credit reporting system----
    Senator Heitkamp. And I think you have a serious trust 
problem today. And I think the lack of coming forth with 
solutions and the adversarial kind of approach that we have 
seen to this is not helping to solve the problem. So we look 
forward to ongoing discussions.
    Mr. Smith. As do we.
    Senator Heitkamp. Thank you, Mr. Smith.
    Chairman Crapo. Thank you.
    Senator Donnelly.
    Senator Donnelly. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you, 
panelists.
    Mr. Smith--or this is actually to all of you. In 2014, the 
Department of Veterans Affairs created the Choice Program to 
allow vets to receive medical care in non-VA facilities. It has 
been helpful in increasing access. However, issues with the 
implementation of the program led to delayed payments and 
billing problems, which in turn resulted in some vets receiving 
adverse actions on their credit reports from debt collection 
efforts. Adverse credit actions make it more difficult and 
expensive for them to get a mortgage, to buy a car, and it is 
really troubling that our veterans have had their credit harmed 
through no fault of their own.
    Senator Rounds and I introduced the Protecting Veterans' 
Credit Act to delay the reporting of VA-responsible medical 
debt, to make it easier for this erroneous debt to be removed 
from credit reports.
    Mr. Smith, medical debt can obviously get expensive. What 
damage can it do to the vet's credit when this is reported as 
unpaid?
    Mr. Smith. Well, look, we agree with you 100 percent that 
veterans should not have their credit records tarnished by 
backlogs and inefficiencies in VA's payment system, and we 
understand that that is what is happening here, and we are 
committed to working with you to solve that issue through the 
national credit reporting system. I think institutionally we 
believe that the folks who are best able to solve that issue 
are the VA and the private medical service providers and the 
debt collectors who are furnishing this essentially erroneous 
information into the system. But we are committed to working 
with you and your office.
    Senator Donnelly. So I have your commitment on behalf of 
the trade association, on behalf of the industry, that you will 
work together with us to address these problems, to address the 
difficulty of the reporting of VA-related medical debt that our 
vets will not get dinged on their credit reports for this 
occurring?
    Mr. Smith. Right. For erroneous, right? What we are talking 
about is where VA, because of VA's processing inefficiencies, 
they just have not paid the bill----
    Senator Donnelly. Well, it is not erroneous that my knee 
got worked on. It is erroneous that the bill came to me as a 
veteran, if I was a vet.
    Mr. Smith. Correct, and VA should have paid it, and the 
private medical service provider has not been paid and 
furnishes the information, yeah, we need to fix that. And we 
are committed to working with you to fix that.
    Senator Donnelly. OK. Congress enacted the Fair Credit 
Reporting Act in 1970 to set the rules of the road. Despite the 
original act and the many subsequent amendments, we still do 
not control our information contained in the files of the 
credit bureaus. It is reported without any consumer permission, 
as has been noted by many. It is often sold to third parties, 
such as with pre-screened credit and insurance offers. And the 
personal information may now be available to thieves on the 
Dark Web after Equifax.
    Mr. Smith, you are the representative for the association. 
Should consumers have more control over their information?
    Mr. Smith. Well, so we have talked a little bit about that 
today, you know, the ability to remove yourself from the 
system, the ability to selectively delete information. I think 
both of those present issues for the national credit reporting 
system. The selective deletion would allow a consumer to game 
the system, to hide unpaid debts from potential creditors, 
making it--presenting a real concern for the safety and 
soundness.
    Senator Donnelly. Well, that comes out if they apply for 
something, right? If they want to get a mortgage, then the 
mortgage company----
    Mr. Smith. Well, I am talking about the selective deletion. 
Now, the removal from the system, then the removal from the 
system is great until you need to rent an apartment or buy a 
cell phone or get a mortgage or get a car loan, and then there 
is nothing----
    Senator Donnelly. Then you can opt in, right?
    Mr. Smith. Well, not if your information has been removed 
from the system. If it is removed, it is removed.
    Now, what you are talking about is perhaps a freeze, and I 
think we are--we think that a freeze is the right choice for 
some consumers, not for all consumers, and that we are willing 
to work with----
    Senator Donnelly. Well, isn't it appropriate that the 
consumer ought to be able to make that decision? If it makes it 
a little bit harder for them to get the apartment, that is a 
decision they have made. Mr. Rotenberg.
    Mr. Rotenberg. Absolutely, Senator, and I think it is 
important to understand that if a consumer is making a 
significant decision like renting an apartment or applying for 
a home mortgage or a car loan, it makes sense to have them have 
the ability to know what is in the credit report and make the 
affirmative decision to decide who is going to get access to 
that information. So that would be common sense.
    Senator Donnelly. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
    Chairman Crapo. Thank you.
    Senator Van Hollen.
    Senator Van Hollen. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And I thank 
all of you for being here today.
    It does seem, as reflected in a lot of the comments today 
and from the earlier hearings we had, that the credit reporting 
agency model is one that is in some ways uniquely stacked 
against consumers when there has been either a data breach or 
bad data put in. And my question goes beyond the issue of the 
data breach to lots of complaints we have heard over the years 
about credit reporting agencies collecting bad data that then 
goes to lead to a denial of a loan or a mortgage payment. And 
there has been a lot of discussion about how to sort of allow 
that consumer to be made whole.
    My question is on the front end in terms of creating 
penalties or deterrents for those who are collecting all this 
data without people's permission and then having the burden be 
on the consumer on the other side.
    So my question to all of you is: Is there some kind of 
deterrent that we could put in place so that the burden and the 
penalty for collecting and disseminating bad data, whether it 
is through a breach or whether it is through denial of a credit 
card can actually address this problem on the front end so that 
there is more of a premium for a credit reporting agency to 
prevent that from happening in the first place?
    Mr. Smith. So I would like to start in responding to that. 
So with respect to data accuracy, credit bureaus have 
substantial duties with respect to data accuracy, and those are 
up front to ensure that they have procedures in place to ensure 
the maximum possible accuracy of the data. The companies that 
furnish data into the credit bureaus are now required to have 
written policies and procedures to ensure the accuracy of that 
data. So that is up front. And the credit bureaus and the 
people who furnish the data into the credit bureaus are all 
supervised for adherence to those standards by the Consumer 
Financial Protection Bureau right now. So I think that--so we 
do have--I mean, we are not unregulated. We do have this 
statute, and it gets longer every year. And there are more and 
more duties added in for credit bureaus and furnishers----
    Senator Van Hollen. So I guess my question is: What is the 
current penalty in the event that bad data gets in? Despite all 
of the systems that are put in place, is there a penalty that 
has to be paid by the credit reporting agencies? I am not 
talking about after the fact. In other words, in addition to 
just bringing the consumer whole--because let us say you are a 
consumer, right?
    Mr. Smith. Right.
    Senator Van Hollen. You know, you get denied a loan. Then 
you have got to go through the incredible hassle of getting all 
this straightened out. And at the end of the day, OK, maybe you 
get your loan. But what can we do to put more of a deterrent up 
front so that we never get to that point where thousands of 
people are wrongfully denied a loan, and, you know, after a 
whole lot of work and cost, maybe they get the loan? So I am 
interested in your thoughts, and then I may come back----
    Mr. Rotenberg. Let me say, Senator, right now I think it is 
upside down. In other words, right now, when there is a 
problem, the companies turn around and charge the consumers to 
take advantage of the tools they need to correct the problem. 
So that cannot be right. I think what we do need to do is 
increase the incentives for the companies to do a better job on 
data security and on privacy protection.
    If I could make one more historical point, there is a deal 
at the heart of the Fair Credit Reporting Act. When the FCRA 
was passed by Congress in 1970, the ability for consumers to 
bring suit in State tort law was preempted because it was their 
information and some of this inaccurate, incomplete, is 
disparaging and defamatory and causes commercial loss. Before 
passage of the FCRA, people could bring lawsuits for those 
harms. They cannot now under the FCRA, which means that 
Congress has to strengthen the penalties to maintain the 
incentives.
    Senator Van Hollen. Right. So there is a good example, 
right? If someone collects bad data that harms somebody, would 
you agree, Mr. Smith, that they should be able to have recourse 
through the courts?
    Mr. Smith. Well, they do have recourse, and the recourse is 
through this law. Now, remember that this law provides for 
statutory penalties in private actions where the credit bureau 
behaved willfully.
    Senator Van Hollen. Let me ask you, because my time may be 
running out here, your association has been lobbying against 
the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's provision that would 
allow people to bring lawsuits. In other words, you have been 
lobbying in favor of keeping mandatory arbitration. Isn't that 
right?
    Mr. Smith. That is my understanding, that, yes, we are 
lobbying for that.
    Senator Van Hollen. Doesn't that stack the deck against the 
consumer? You mentioned 143 million people, right? If everybody 
has got to go to mandatory arbitration as opposed to being able 
to group together as consumers and bring a case, that 
definitely stacks the deck in favor of the big guys and against 
the person who has been harmed, doesn't it?
    Mr. Smith. But with respect to the credit reporting system, 
there is no opportunity--you have no contract with Equifax.
    Senator Van Hollen. I understand.
    Mr. Smith. So you have no mandatory arbitration clause with 
Equifax. Correct?
    Senator Van Hollen. But this is a separate issue actually 
that was just raised by another witness. In other words, if 
there is information in there that causes me damage--right?
    Mr. Smith. Information in the credit report you can----
    Senator Van Hollen. Yes, that causes me damage.
    Mr. Smith. You can sue, and you can be a member of a class 
because there is no mandatory arbitration clause in that 
context. What we are talking about with arbitration is where 
the consumer is purchasing a product from one of the credit 
bureaus, like a credit monitoring product, for example, and----
    Senator Van Hollen. But we did see in the case of Equifax, 
at least initially, that as a condition of getting protection 
from damaging information that Equifax breaches caused, that 
they were originally requiring people to relinquish their 
rights to go to court. In other words, they were insisting they 
sign something for mandatory arbitration.
    Mr. Smith. With respect to----
    Senator Van Hollen. Now, they backed--no, but this is an 
example----
    Mr. Smith. Then they backed off, correct.
    Senator Van Hollen. And there are other Equifax products 
where there is a contractual relationship where they are 
insisting on mandatory arbitration. Isn't that the case?
    Mr. Smith. For credit monitoring and----
    Senator Van Hollen. I mean, they testified here they have 
lots of products where they insist on----
    Mr. Smith. Yes, direct----
    Senator Van Hollen. Doesn't that----
    Mr. Smith. ----products sold to consumers, yes.
    Senator Van Hollen. And if a consumer is wronged in that 
process, doesn't it stack the deck against them to say they 
have to go through mandatory arbitration?
    Mr. Smith. Well, of course, I am going to disagree with 
that. I mean, we think that arbitration can be effective. We 
also think that given the statute called the ``Credit Repair 
Organizations Act'' that there are special risks presented for 
credit monitoring products that have stacked the deck against 
the company.
    Senator Van Hollen. I would just say, Mr. Chairman, I can 
understand why Equifax would want to deny that particular kind 
of recourse because it can be more successful in recovering 
people's damages. Thank you.
    Chairman Crapo. Thank you, Senator. And hold on 1 second.
    [Pause.]
    Chairman Crapo. I am going to wrap it up. I am going to 
have to be very fast because there is a second vote that I am 
going to have to get to.
    So thank you very much for attending here today. I just 
have one question, and I know that you are here as experts on 
credit bureaus. I just want to know, if you know, whether there 
is data that is required to be submitted by the credit bureaus 
to the Federal Government. Does any Federal Government agency 
require credit bureaus to submit data to them?
    Mr. Smith. I do not believe that--so I know that data is 
provided to the Federal Reserve Board and to the CFPB by credit 
bureaus, and I believe that that data is purchased by those 
agencies and that it is provided within the strictures of the 
Fair Credit Reporting Act. And in the instances with which I am 
familiar, it is provided in a deidentified and an aggregated 
format.
    Chairman Crapo. All right. That does it then. I want to 
thank each----
    Senator Brown. Could I ask some more questions? Thank you.
    [Pause.]
    Senator Brown [presiding]. Then I will wrap up, right? OK. 
Thank you.
    Mr. Rotenberg, let me start with you. If Americans could 
make CRAs delete their credit files upon demand, like the law 
requires for medical records--and I know you have some 
interesting thoughts there, but do not go into so much the 
medical records. But if they could delete their credit files 
upon demand, would that create an additional business risk for 
consumer reporting agencies?
    Mr. Rotenberg. Well, I do not know if it would create a 
risk for consumer reporting agencies. It would give consumers 
more control of their personal information, and I think there 
is a way to manage that. Certainly it is done currently with 
bankruptcy and the FCRA.
    Senator Brown. Would you say that consumer reporting 
agencies would not want Americans to demand that their credit 
files be deleted?
    Mr. Rotenberg. I am certain or I expect that would be their 
position. They try to get as much information about consumers 
as they can, and, of course, consumers have very little 
information about what is being gathered.
    Senator Brown. Let me make sure I understand. So if CRAs 
knew that Americans would request their data be deleted after a 
cybersecurity breach like we just had, and they unsuccessfully 
tried to do that following the Equifax breach, as we also know, 
would that create an incentive for these agencies to pay more 
attention to cybersecurity in the first place?
    Mr. Rotenberg. I am sure it would, and I think to answer 
your question directly, consumer reporting agencies have no 
legal right to obtain the information of American consumers. 
The businesses have evolved over time. They have collected a 
lot of data. They are subject to regulation. But I do not think 
the credit reporting agencies can claim that they have any 
right to access our personal data, and so ultimately it would 
be the consumer's decision whether or not any company has the 
right to possess our data.
    Senator Brown. So some at the CRAs claim that consumers 
would game the system. Is that right?
    Mr. Rotenberg. Well, it is possible. But, you know, of 
course, right now I think the credit reporting agencies largely 
game the system because consumers do not know the factors that 
are used to make decisions about them for credit, for 
employment, and even for cell phone purchases. So it is very 
asymmetric, this industry, who has information about who and 
how that information is used.
    Senator Brown. Speaking of asymmetric, currently my 
understanding is that rules for privacy are much stricter at 
Government agencies than they are in the private sector. If 
that is the case--and I think it is--should we consider a 
single set of privacy standards for both public and private?
    Mr. Rotenberg. I think that is the unfinished business of 
privacy protection in the United States. We had a moment where 
there was an opportunity to establish a comprehensive privacy 
law in the private sector. Congress chose not to. There is a 
comprehensive law for Federal agencies.
    Europe took a different approach. They established 
comprehensive privacy protection for the private sector, and I 
think there has been some benefit. They do not face the same 
levels of identity theft and financial fraud----
    Senator Brown. Well, tell me more about Europe. My 
understanding is European countries, as you have suggested, 
have stricter data privacy laws; they, I assume, still have 
functioning credit markets. Right?
    Mr. Rotenberg. Yes, they do.
    Senator Brown. Do these three agencies that Mr. Smith--and 
Mr. Smith can certainly respond to this, too. These three 
agencies that he represents, Equifax, TransUnion, and Experian, 
do they do business in those countries?
    Mr. Rotenberg. I do not know about those specific firms. I 
do know that there is a vibrant credit market across the 
European economy. The key is that they are held to a higher 
standard. For example, in the area of breach notification, 
Equifax took more than 6 weeks once they learned of the breach 
to tell American consumers what had happened. Under the new 
European Union privacy law, they have 72 hours when they 
confront a problem like that. So you can still operate your 
business. You are just held to a higher standard.
    Senator Brown. Mr. Smith, the three agencies, let us talk 
predominantly about those three because they clearly corner the 
market, more or less. Are they profitable in Europe with a 
different business model, one with stricter privacy laws?
    Mr. Smith. I do not know whether they--I know that some 
operate in the U.K. We have a different group of credit 
reporting agencies in Europe, and it is not necessarily the 
three that we are familiar with here. We know that Equifax is 
in the U.K. I am not sure about continental Europe.
    Senator Brown. Could you give to the Committee from those 
three clients specifically what they do in Europe and their 
profit--how big a presence they have, market share, like you 
know in the U.S., and how they are doing in Europe in terms of 
profitability and any public plans they have about continuing--
--
    Mr. Smith. Sure, we can do that.
    One thing that I would say about Europe, though--and 
Professor Rotenberg may disagree with this--I do not believe 
that there is a right to be forgotten with respect to credit 
report information, that there is a balancing of legitimate 
interests for collecting such information and a balancing with 
this right to be forgotten. So there is guidance in the EU that 
I believe would not permit consumers to just delete wholesale 
information from credit reporting agencies because of the vital 
role that they play in managing safety and soundness.
    Mr. Rotenberg. Actually, if I may disagree, that is not 
correct. The General Data Protection Regulation, the new 
European Union law, speaks specifically of the right to 
erasure. Credit reporting agencies are controllers and 
processors of personal data; they are subject to that. Also 
under the European law, consumers have the right to an 
explanation of the basis of a decision. In other words, if a 
company has an automated process to decide whether someone gets 
a loan or gets a job, under the European law consumers get to 
know what the factors were that were used to make that 
determination.
    I think we need to move toward that approach in the United 
States. I think it would make the companies more accountable. I 
think it would make the decisions about American consumers 
fairer and more transparent.
    Mr. Smith. By the way, we do that here, too. We do have 
requirements that when you take adverse action based on 
consumer report information, that you notify the consumer. And 
in the case of where a credit score is used, you have to have 
the key factors that affected that score.
    Senator Brown. All right. Thank you. And I have one last 
question. I apologize, and I know I committed to the Chair to 
keep it as close to 5 minutes as I could. A last question for 
Mr. Smith. If the FCRA bill that capped liabilities had passed, 
how much would the 145 million Americans, 5 million in my 
State, how much would those victims of the Equifax problem been 
entitled to?
    Mr. Smith. Well, first, you are assuming that there would 
be a cause of action under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, and 
right now, based on news reports, there would be no cause of 
action under the Fair Credit Reporting Act because it was not 
credit report--the consumer reporting data base that was 
compromised. Were there to be a breach of a consumer reporting 
data base, I believe that the figure was--a million? OK. The 
cap was either $500,000 or $1 million, but it was consistent 
with all of the other consumer credit protection statutes.
    Senator Brown. OK. Sounds like we have a loophole to close.
    Thank you all. Members of the Banking Committee may have 
questions for you. We encourage them to get them in writing 
quickly to each of you, within the next 7 days, and please 
answer as quickly as you can, including some, Mr. Smith, I 
asked you for.
    I thank Chairman Crapo, and the meeting is adjourned.
    [Whereupon, at 11:53 a.m., the hearing was adjourned.]
    [Prepared statements, responses to written questions, and 
additional material supplied for the record follow:]
                 PREPARED STATEMENT OF ANDREW M. SMITH
   Partner, Covington & Burling LLP, On Behalf of the Consumer Data 
                          Industry Association
                            October 17, 2017
    Chairman Crapo, Ranking Member Brown, and Members of the Committee, 
thank you for the opportunity to appear before you. My name is Andrew 
Smith, and I am a partner at the law firm Covington & Burling LLP, 
where I co-chair the Financial Institutions Practice Group. I also 
serve as the Chair of the Consumer Financial Services Committee of the 
American Bar Association, and I am a Fellow of the American College of 
Consumer Financial Services Lawyers. Earlier in my career, I worked at 
the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), where I was in charge of the FTC's 
credit reporting program.
    I am appearing today on behalf of the Consumer Data Industry 
Association.
    CDIA is an international trade association with over 140 corporate 
members--including the three nationwide credit bureaus--that educates 
policymakers, consumers, and others on the benefits of using consumer 
data responsibly. CDIA members provide businesses with the information 
and analytical tools necessary to manage risk and protect consumers. 
CDIA member products are used in more than nine billion transactions 
each year and expand consumers' access to financial services in a 
manner that is innovative and focused on their needs. We commend you 
for holding this hearing, and welcome the opportunity to share our 
views.
    Today, I want to focus on three key points:

    The American credit reporting system provides critically 
        important benefits to consumers and is indispensable to the 
        economy.

    Nationwide credit reporting companies must comply with 
        robust data security standards, because of the direct 
        requirements of Federal and State law, but also because of 
        obligations imposed on credit reporting companies by their 
        customers, such as banks who are required by their prudential 
        regulators to audit the data security of their vendors.

    Beyond these data security requirements, credit reporting 
        companies are subject to a pervasive regulatory and supervisory 
        scheme that effectively protects both consumers and the 
        economy, and has persisted for nearly 50 years.
The National Credit Reporting System
    The national credit reporting system is vital to the health of the 
economy and to maintaining consumer access to credit. More than two-
thirds of U.S. gross domestic product comes from consumer spending, a 
fact that depends in large part on consumer access to affordable 
credit. In turn, access to credit on reasonable terms makes it 
affordable for consumers to make important purchases, such as a home or 
a car, or even a smartphone.
    The credit reporting system is so central to the modern American 
economy that it can be easy to miss its benefits. For example, today we 
would never imagine that a cross-country move might make it difficult 
or even impossible to rent an apartment, get utilities connected, or 
obtain a bank account. But before the development of the modern system, 
moving to a new city potentially meant losing access to critical 
services and benefits. Without ready access to a consumer report, 
lenders, landlords, community banks, credit unions, insurance 
companies, and others had no assurance that you were conscientious and 
reliable, unless they knew you personally. As Consumer Financial 
Protection Bureau (CFPB) Director Richard Cordray has stated,

        Without credit reporting, consumers would not be able to get 
        credit except from those who have already had direct experience 
        with them, for example from local merchants who know whether or 
        not they regularly pay their bills. This was the case fifty or 
        a hundred years ago with ``store credit,'' or when consumers 
        really only had the option of going to their local bank. But 
        now, consumers can instantly access credit because lenders 
        everywhere can look to credit scores to provide a uniform 
        benchmark for assessing risk. \1\
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     \1\ Richard Cordray, CFPB, Prepared Remarks by Richard Cordray on 
Credit Reporting (Jul. 16, 2012), https://www.consumerfinance.gov/
about-us/newsroom/prepared-remarks-by-richard-cordray-on-credit-
reporting/.

    The modern credit reporting system has made it possible for many 
middle-class consumers to get credit at rates that previously would 
have been reserved for the wealthy. Now, even those of modest means who 
have shown themselves to be diligent and conscientious with their money 
can get affordable credit quickly and with a minimum of effort. 
Furthermore, in recent years, many credit reporting companies have 
developed tools to provide lenders with information on the unbanked and 
other consumers without the type of records that typically make up a 
traditional credit report. These tools allow more consumers to access 
traditional loans and bank products.
    Our credit reporting system today is the envy of the world. It is a 
key reason why we have such a diverse base of lenders, in contrast to 
the financial systems of other developed Nations. Our system also 
provides a disproportionate benefit to smaller financial institutions 
like community banks and credit unions, who have access to accurate and 
complete data on par with what very large banks have access to. Our 
financial system works because companies share critical information 
across the system to benefit everyone.
    Ultimately, credit reports tell the story of our good choices and 
hard work. They speak for us as consumers when we apply for loans and 
lenders don't know who we are or if we've paid our bills in the past. 
Further, credit reports are a check on human bias and assumptions that 
provide lenders with a foundation of facts that tell our story and 
contribute to equitable treatment for consumers. CDIA members work to 
act in the best interests of consumers--by ensuring the accuracy and 
completeness of data in consumer reports, and by providing businesses 
with the information that they need to ensure consumers are treated 
fairly.
Data Security Requirements for Credit Reporting Companies
    We understand that the Committee is particularly interested in 
understanding the data security requirements and standards that apply 
to credit reporting companies and the steps these companies take to 
protect consumer data. Under Federal, State, and private contractual 
frameworks, credit reporting companies are required to protect the 
sensitive consumer information that they possess, such as by 
developing, maintaining, and testing the effectiveness of comprehensive 
information security programs. These existing frameworks combine to 
form a robust and comprehensive set of cyberstandards that protect the 
data collected, maintained, and transmitted by credit reporting 
companies.
The Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act and FTC Safeguards Rule
    Credit reporting companies are financial institutions subject to 
the information security requirements of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act 
(GLBA) and its implementing regulation, the Standards for Safeguarding 
Customer Information (Safeguards Rule) promulgated by the FTC. \2\ The 
Safeguards Rule imposes specific standards designed to (1) ensure the 
security and confidentiality of customer records and information; (2) 
protect against any anticipated threats or hazards to the security or 
integrity of such records; and (3) protect against unauthorized access 
to or use of such records or information which could result in 
substantial harm or inconvenience to any consumer. \3\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
     \2\ 15 U.S.C. 6801; 16 CFR pt. 314. The Safeguards Rule applies 
to financial institutions within the FTC's jurisdiction, which includes 
credit reporting companies. The Federal prudential banking regulators--
i.e., the Federal Reserve, the Office of the Comptroller of the 
Currency, and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation--have 
promulgated similar information security guidance that applies to the 
financial institutions under their supervision. See Interagency 
Guidelines Establishing Information Security Standards, 12 CFR pt. 30, 
App. B (interagency guidelines as promulgated by the OCC); 12 CFR pt. 
208, App. D-2 (as promulgated by the Federal Reserve); 12 CFR pt. 364, 
App. B (as promulgated by the FDIC).
     \3\ 15 U.S.C. 6801(b); 16 CFR 314.4(b).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    The Safeguards Rule requires financial institutions to ``develop, 
implement, and maintain a comprehensive information security program'' 
that includes appropriate administrative, technical, and physical 
safeguards to achieve these objectives. \4\ This program is required to 
be tailored to the institution's size and complexity, the nature and 
scope of its activities, and the sensitivity of any customer 
information at issue. \5\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
     \4\ 16 CFR 314.3(a).
     \5\ See id.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    In addition, a financial institution must designate an employee to 
coordinate the program; identify reasonably foreseeable risks to the 
security of the information and assess the sufficiency of safeguards; 
and design, implement, and regularly test safeguards to protect against 
such risks. \6\ Finally, the Safeguards Rule obligates financial 
institutions to oversee their service providers' cybersecurity 
practices, both by taking reasonable steps to ensure the institutions 
only deal with service providers that employ strong security practices, 
and by entering into contracts with such providers that require them to 
implement appropriate safeguards. \7\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
     \6\ 16 CFR 314.4.
     \7\ 16 CFR 314.4(d).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The FTC Act
    Credit reporting companies are also subject to jurisdiction over 
cybersecurity matters asserted by the FTC under Section 5 of the FTC 
Act. \8\ Pursuant to this statute, the FTC is empowered to take action 
against any business that engages in ``unfair or deceptive acts or 
practices'' (UDAP), which the agency has interpreted to include 
inadequate data security practices. \9\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
     \8\ 15 U.S.C. 45.
     \9\ See id.; see also Cong. Res. Serv., ``The Federal Trade 
Commission's Regulation of Data Security Under Its Unfair or Deceptive 
Acts or Practices (UDAP) Authority'' (Sept. 11, 2014), https://fas.org/
sgp/crs/misc/R43723.pdf.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    The FTC requires that a company employ safeguards for data that are 
``reasonable in light of the sensitivity and volume of consumer 
information it holds, the size and complexity of its data operations, 
and the cost of available tools to improve security and reduce 
vulnerabilities.'' \10\ While specific cybersecurity requirements under 
Section 5 are not codified, the FTC has issued detailed guidance that 
explains what it considers to be reasonable cybersecurity safeguards. 
These include practices such as encryption, use of firewalls, use of 
breach detection systems, maintaining physical security of objects that 
contain sensitive information, and training employees to protect such 
information. \11\ In addition to issuing detailed guidance, the FTC 
zealously enforces these standards, having brought over 60 cases since 
2002 against businesses for putting consumer data at ``unreasonable 
risk.'' \12\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
     \10\ Fed. Trade Comm'n, Data Security (accessed Dec. 15, 2016), 
https://www.ftc.gov/datasecurity.
     \11\ See, e.g., Fed. Trade Comm'n, ``Protecting Personal 
Information: A Guide for Business'' (Oct. 2016), https://www.ftc.gov/
tips-advice/business-center/guidance/protecting-personal-information-
guide-business.
     \12\ See Fed. Trade Comm'n, ``Privacy and Data Security Update--
2016'' (Jan. 2017), https://www.ftc.gov/reports/privacy-data-security-
update-2016.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fair Credit Reporting Act: Credentialing and Disposal Requirements
    The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) requires that credit reporting 
companies only provide credit reports to people with a permissible 
purpose to receive such reports, such as credit or insurance 
underwriting. More importantly, the law requires that every credit 
reporting company maintain reasonable procedures designed to ensure 
that credit reports are provided only to legitimate people for 
legitimate purposes. These procedures must require that prospective 
users of credit reports identify themselves, certify the purposes for 
which the information is sought, and certify that the information will 
be used for no other purpose. The FTC has brought numerous actions over 
the years seeking to enforce these provisions, most notably against 
ChoicePoint, which was alleged to have unwittingly sold credit reports 
to a ring of identity thieves. In the ChoicePoint case, the FTC 
collected millions of dollars in consumer redress and civil penalties, 
including a $10 million civil penalty in connection with the 
unauthorized disclosure of ``nearly 10,000 credit reports,'' which were 
allegedly sold by ChoicePoint to persons without a permissible purpose. 
\13\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
     \13\ See Fed. Trade Comm'n., ``ChoicePoint Settles Data Security 
Breach Charges; To Pay $10 Million in Civil Penalties, $5 Million for 
Consumer Redress'' (Jan. 26, 2006), https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/
press-releases/2006/01/choicepoint-settles-data-security-breach-
charges-pay-10-million.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    The nationwide credit bureaus, and credit reporting companies 
generally, take these ``credentialing'' responsibilities very 
seriously. In addition, the nationwide credit bureaus have been 
examined by the CFPB with respect to the strength and resiliency of 
their credentialing procedures. As a part of their credentialing 
procedures, credit reporting companies maintain detailed written 
procedures which take into account the risks presented by prospective 
users and their proposed uses of data. These procedures routinely 
include:

    site visits to ensure the premises are consistent with the 
        stated business of the prospective customer;

    review of public information sources and public filings to 
        confirm licensure and good standing;

    review of company websites and other public-facing 
        materials;

    checking financial references, including credit reports of 
        owners for certain types of companies, such as those that are 
        not publicly traded;

    specific and detailed contractual representations and 
        warranties, as well as specific certifications, that credit 
        report information will be used only for specified purposes;

    detailed customer on-boarding and training procedures; and

    ongoing monitoring of customers--including transaction 
        testing--to ensure that customers are in fact using credit 
        reports for legitimate and permissible purposes.

    In addition to these credentialing requirements, the FCRA prohibits 
credit reporting companies--and anyone else handling credit report 
information--from disposing of that information in a manner that is not 
secure. \14\ More specifically, the FTC has made a rule providing that 
a person who maintains or otherwise possesses credit report 
information, or information derived from credit reports, must properly 
dispose of such information by taking reasonable measures to protect 
against the unauthorized access to or use of the information in 
connection with its disposal. \15\
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     \14\ See FCRA 628.
     \15\ See 16 CFR 682.3.
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State Law--State Attorney General Enforcement and Breach Notification
    In addition to these Federal regulatory frameworks, credit 
reporting companies also have numerous data security obligations under 
State law. First, credit reporting companies may be subject to data 
security enforcement of State ``mini-FTC Acts'' that prohibit unfair or 
deceptive acts or practices. \16\ Further, at least 13 States require 
businesses that own, license, or maintain personal information to 
implement and maintain reasonable security procedures and practices and 
to protect personal information from unauthorized access, destruction, 
use, modification, or disclosure. \17\ The majority of States require 
businesses to dispose of sensitive personal information securely. \18\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
     \16\ See, e.g., Xavier Becerra, Attorney General, Cal. Dep't of 
Justice, Target Settles Record $18.5 Million Credit Card Data Breach 
Case (May 23, 2017), https://oag.ca.gov/news/press-releases/attorney-
general-becerra-target-settles-record-185-million-credit-card-data.
     \17\ See Nat'l Conf. of State Legis., Data Security Laws--Private 
Sector (Jan. 16, 2017), http://www.ncsl.org/research/
telecommunications-and-information-technology/data-security-laws.aspx.
     \18\ See Nat'l Conf. of State Legis., Data Disposal Laws (Dec. 1, 
2016), http://www.ncsl.org/research/telecommunications-and-information-
technology/data-disposal-laws.aspx. At the Federal level, the FTC's 
Disposal Rule regulates the proper disposal of consumer report 
information. See 16 CFR pt. 682.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Moreover, nearly every U.S. State, the District of Columbia, and 
several U.S. territories have enacted laws requiring notification to 
affected individuals following a breach of personal information. \19\ 
These laws typically exempt institutions that are supervised by the 
Federal prudential regulators. In contrast, credit reporting 
companies--which are not supervised by the prudential regulators--must 
comply with the patchwork of more than four dozen breach notification 
laws if a breach does occur.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
     \19\ See Nat'l Conf. of State Legis., Security Breach Notification 
Laws (Apr. 12, 2017), http://www.ncsl.org/research/telecommunications-
and-information-technology/security-breach-notification-laws.aspx.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Contractual Obligations Imposed Due to Other Regulatory Frameworks
    Even beyond these direct legal requirements, the three nationwide 
credit bureaus--Experian, Equifax, and Transunion--are also subject to 
substantial additional requirements that result from doing business 
with other major financial institutions. The information security 
programs at many credit bureau customers are supervised by Federal 
prudential regulators, i.e., the Federal Reserve, the Office of the 
Comptroller of the Currency, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, 
or the National Credit Union Administration. Under comprehensive and 
detailed information security standards published by the Federal 
Financial Institutions Council (FFIEC)--an interagency body of 
financial regulators--these financial institutions must oversee the 
information security programs of their third-party service providers. 
\20\ Pursuant to these FFIEC requirements, financial institutions and 
their auditors subject the nationwide credit bureaus to dozens of 
information security audits each year, many of which include on-site 
inspections or examinations, which may take place over a period of 
several days.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
     \20\ See FFIEC, IT Examination Handbook Infobase, Information 
Security: Oversight of Third-Party Service Providers, https://
ithandbook.ffiec.gov/it-booklets/information-security/ii-information-
security-program-management/iic-risk-mitigation/iic20-oversight-of-
third-party-service-providers.aspx.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard
    The three nationwide credit bureaus also comply with the Payment 
Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS). The PCI DSS is a set of 
cybersecurity requirements that are mandatory for all organizations 
that store, process, and transmit sensitive payment card information of 
the major credit card associations. \21\ The standard requires credit 
reporting companies to take a number of specific steps to ensure the 
security of certain data. For example, the PCI DSS requires members to 
install and maintain firewalls, encrypt the transmission of cardholder 
data, protect against malware and implement and update anti-virus 
programs, restrict both digital and physical access to cardholder data, 
regularly test security systems and processes, and maintain a detailed 
information security policy for all personnel. \22\ The standard 
imposes further detailed and specific technical requirements for the 
protection of cardholder data, such as a restriction on service 
providers' storage of personal identification or card verification 
numbers after card authorization. \23\ In addition, the standard 
requires a service provider to ensure that any third parties with whom 
it shares data also comply with the PCI DSS. \24\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
     \21\ Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council, 
``Requirements and Security Assessment Procedures'', Version 3.2 (Apr. 
2016).
     \22\ Id. at 5.
     \23\ See, e.g., id. at 38-39.
     \24\ Id. at 12.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    All three of the nationwide credit bureaus have been certified by 
the card networks as ``PCI DSS Validated Service Providers,'' meaning 
that they are approved to store, process and transmit cardholder data. 
Service providers that store, process, or transmit cardholder data must 
be registered with the card networks and demonstrate PCI DSS 
compliance. PCI DSS compliance validation is required every 12 months 
for all service providers. As an example, all three nationwide credit 
bureaus are included on the Visa Service Provider Registry, indicating 
that they have successfully validated PCI DSS compliance with an on-
site assessment, based on the report of an independent Qualified 
Security Assessor (QSA), and have met all applicable Visa program 
requirements. \25\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
     \25\ See, e.g., Visa Global Registry of Service Providers, https:/
/www.visa.com/splisting/index.html.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Fair Credit Reporting Act and CFPB Supervision
    Finally, I want to discuss the consumer protection regime that 
applies to credit reporting companies under the FCRA. This regime has 
persisted for nearly 50 years, with occasional fine tuning and two 
significant revisions, in 1996 and 2003. In addition, in 2012, the CFPB 
began supervising the credit reporting companies for, among other 
things, compliance with the FCRA.
    When the credit reporting industry first began in the United 
States, there was little standardization in the methods used and types 
of data collected. In particular, there was no standard procedure for 
consumers to find out what was in their credit report and to have 
erroneous information corrected. In response to these concerns, in 1970 
Congress passed the FCRA, which imposed duties on credit reporting 
companies (referred to as ``consumer reporting agencies'' under the 
statute). \26\ These duties included providing consumers transparency 
by requiring lenders and other users of credit reports to notify 
consumers when they take ``adverse action'' based on a credit report, 
providing consumers with access to their file, and providing for a 
mechanism for consumers to dispute and correct inaccurate or incomplete 
information.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
     \26\ See ``Fair Credit Reporting Act: How It Functions for 
Consumers and the Economy'', Hearing Before the Subcomm. on Financial 
Institutions and Consumer Credit of the H. Comm. on Financial Services, 
108th Cong. 129 (2003) (prepared statement of the Federal Trade 
Commission).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Building on the core structure of the FCRA, Congress revised the 
statute in 1996. One of the most important revisions was to impose a 
set of duties, not just on the credit reporting companies themselves, 
but on those businesses that furnished the information to the credit 
bureaus in the first place. \27\ In 2003, again building on the FCRA's 
core structure, Congress again modified the FCRA through the Fair and 
Accurate Credit Transactions Act, which added certain consumer 
protections such as free annual credit reports and new protections for 
identity theft victims. \28\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
     \27\ See, e.g., ``Amending Fair Credit Reporting Act'', Sen. Comm. 
on Banking, Housing, and Urban Aff's, S. Rept. 108-166 (Oct. 17, 2003).
     \28\ See FCRA 609(e).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Under the FCRA, credit reporting companies are subject to a 
comprehensive regulatory regime that provides many protections to 
consumers. A number of these provisions are designed to protect 
consumer privacy, such as the aforementioned permissible purpose and 
credentialing requirements. The FCRA also includes criminal penalties 
for people who obtain credit reports under false pretenses or credit 
reporting companies that knowingly provide credit reports to persons 
not authorized to receive them, for example, by selling consumers' 
private information to a litigation opponent or an ex-spouse hoping to 
find embarrassing information. To further ensure consumer privacy is 
protected, as I discussed before, credit reporting companies must 
``credential'' users of their consumer reports to confirm they in fact 
have a permissible purpose to obtain the reports. \29\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
     \29\ See FCRA 607(a).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Many of the provisions also address the accuracy and completeness 
of consumer reports. The most basic of these protections is the 
consumer's right to know what is in his or her file. \30\ The 2003 
amendments to the FCRA additionally required nationwide credit bureaus 
and nationwide specialty credit bureaus to provide consumers with free 
annual disclosures of the information in their file, including through 
an official website, www.annualcreditreport.com. Further, when a user 
of a consumer report takes ``adverse action'' against a consumer on the 
basis of information in his or her credit report, that user must 
provide the consumer with a notice that contains information about how 
the consumer can obtain a copy of his or her credit report and can get 
errors corrected. \31\ For example, if a lender denies a consumer's 
application because of a low credit score, the lender must provide the 
consumer with a notice of adverse action. In addition, consumers have 
the right to dispute the contents of their file, and the credit 
reporting company is obligated to conduct a reasonable investigation of 
the dispute. \32\ Credit reporting companies must also independently 
employ reasonable procedures to maintain the maximum possible accuracy 
of the information in consumer files. \33\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
     \30\ See FCRA 609.
     \31\ See FCRA 615(a).
     \32\ See FCRA 611.
     \33\ See FCRA 607(b).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Finally, in 2012, the CFPB became the first supervisor of the 
national credit reporting system--the first regulator with examination 
authority over the credit reporting companies, the users of credit 
reports, and the companies that furnish information into the credit 
reporting companies for incorporation into credit reports. \34\ Since 
the CFPB formalized its supervisory authority in January 2012, the 
nationwide credit bureaus have been subject to essentially continuous 
examination cycles, where they have been examined for the adequacy of 
their compliance management systems, their dispute handling procedures, 
their procedures to ensure the maximum possible accuracy of credit 
reports, their credentialing procedures, and other important and highly 
regulated functions. In this supervisory role, the CFPB examines the 
policies, procedures, controls, and practices of credit reporting 
companies. The companies expend substantial resources responding to 
examiner requests and must maintain transparency with their examiners. 
If the examiners discover any areas in which a credit reporting company 
is not living up to its obligations, the CFPB can resolve the issue 
through the supervisory process, or, if the issue is sufficiently 
serious, choose to bring a public enforcement action. The Bureau 
recently opined on the success of this regime, concluding that it had 
produced a ``proactive approach to compliance management'' that ``will 
reap benefits for consumers--and the lenders that use consumer 
reports--for many years to come.'' \35\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
     \34\ The CFPB has supervisory authority over ``larger 
participants'' in the consumer reporting industry, which are defined in 
12 CFR 1090.104.
     \35\ See CFPB, Supervisory Highlights: Consumer Reporting Special 
Edition, Winter 2017 3 (Mar. 2017), http://files.consumerfinance.gov/f/
documents/201703_cfpb_Supervisory-Highlights-Consumer-Reporting-
Special-Edition.pdf.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Thank you again for the opportunity to testify before you today. I 
am happy to answer any questions.
                                 ______
                                 
                  PREPARED STATEMENT OF MARC ROTENBERG
            President, Electronic Privacy Information Center
                            October 17, 2017
    Mister Chairman and Members of the Committee, thank you for the 
opportunity to testify today concerning consumer data security and the 
credit bureaus. My name is Marc Rotenberg. I am President of the 
Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC). EPIC is an independent 
nonprofit research organization in Washington, DC, established in 1994 
to focus public attention on emerging privacy and civil liberties 
issues. I have also taught information privacy law at Georgetown 
University Law Center since 1990 and I am the author of several leading 
books on privacy law. \1\ I testified before this Committee in 2011 
following the spate of data breaches in the financial services sector. 
\2\ And in a recent article for the Harvard Business Review, I outlined 
several steps that Congress could take in response to the Equifax data 
breach. \3\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
     \1\ Anita Allen and Marc Rotenberg, ``Privacy Law an Society'' 
(West 2016); Marc Rotenberg, ``The Privacy Law Sourcebook: United 
States Law'', International Law, and Recent Developments (Epic 2016); 
Marc Rotenberg, Et al., ``Privacy and the Modern Age: The Search for 
Solutions'' (The New Press 2015).
     \2\ ``Cybersecurity and Data Protection in the Financial Services 
Sector'', Hearing Before the S. Comm. on Banking, Housing, and Urban 
Affairs, 112th Cong. (2011) (statement of Marc Rotenberg, Exec. Dir., 
EPIC), https://epic.org/privacy/testimony/
EPIC_Senate_Banking_Testimony%20_6_21_11.pdf.
     \3\ Marc Rotenberg, ``Equifax, the Credit Reporting Industry, and 
What Congress Should Do Next'', Harv. Bus. Rev. (Sept. 20, 2017), 
https://hbr.org/2017/09/equifax-the-credit-reporting-industry-and-what-
congress-should-do-next.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    I will say at the outset that the Equifax data breach is one of the 
most serious in the Nation's history, on par with the breach at the 
Office of Personnel Management in 2015 that impacted 22.5 million 
Federal employees, their friends and family members. The Equifax breach 
poses enormous challenges to the security of American families, as well 
as our countries national security. Privacy, more precisely described 
as ``data protection,'' is no longer simply about the concern that 
large companies misuse personal data. Today our country is facing 
cyberattacks from foreign adversaries and it is the personal data 
stored by companies that is the target. When these companies engage in 
lax security practices or freely disclose consumer data without 
consent, they are placing not only consumers, but also our Nation at 
risk.
    There is no simple solution to these challenges, but in my 
testimony today I will outline the steps that I believe Congress could 
take to minimize the risk flowing from this breach and address the risk 
of future breaches in the data broker industry. In brief, current laws 
do not protect consumers. Legislation should (1) give consumers greater 
control of their personal data held by others; (2) limit the use of the 
Social Security Number in the private sector; (3) minimize the 
collection of personally identifiable information; (4) improve breach 
notification; and (5) change the defaults in the credit reporting 
industry with (a) default credit ``freezes'' that give consumers opt-in 
control over the release of their credit report, (b) free, routine 
monitoring services, and (c) free access at any time for any purpose to 
a consumer who wants to see the complete contents of a credit report or 
other similar information product made available for sale.
I. The Implications of the Equifax Breach
A. This Breach Was Unprecedented in Scope
    The Equifax data breach is one of the most significant in the 
history of the United States. Over 145 million American consumers were 
impacted. \4\ More than four months passed from the time the Equifax 
failed to install critical software updates till the time the time the 
problem was addressed. And the data that was disclosed is precisely the 
information that individuals rely upon to open bank accounts, get car 
loans, seek employment, buy cell phones, and even issue checks online. 
The data included:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
     \4\ Equifax, ``Equifax Announces Cybersecurity Incident Involving 
Consumer Information'' (Sept. 7, 2017), https://investor.equifax.com/
tools/viewpdf.aspx.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Names

    Social Security Numbers

    Birth Dates

    Addresses, and

    Driver's License Numbers. \5\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
     \5\ Id.

    This data is a gold mine for identity thieves. The widespread 
availability of this personal data poses an ongoing risk to American 
families and creates problems for those who suffer identity theft that 
will take months, if not years, to resolve.
    The Equifax breach also has implications for U.S. trade relations. 
According to the Canadian Broadcast Corporation, the data of 100,000 
Canadians was seized in the breach. \6\ The British Broadcasting 
Corporation reported that 400,000 U.K. consumers were affected by the 
Equifax breach. \7\ Equifax has since stated that 15,200,000 million 
U.K. consumers were impacted by the breach. \8\ And all of this at a 
time when foreign Government are carefully scrutinizing U.S. data 
protection to determine to determine whether it is safe to transfer 
personal data to the United States. Equifax has given other countries 
good reason to fear their data being entrusted to U.S. companies. That 
could harm U.S. trade.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
     \6\ Matthew Braga, ``100,000 Canadian Victims: What We Know About 
the Equifax Breach--And What We Don't'', CBC News (Sept. 19, 2017), 
http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/equifax-canada-breach-sin-
cybersecurity-what-we-know-1.4297532.
     \7\ ``Equifax Says Almost 400,000 Britons Hit in Data Breach'', 
BBC News (Sept. 15, 2017), http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-41286638.
     \8\ Equifax, Equifax Ltd (U.K.): ``Update Regarding the Ongoing 
Investigation Into Us Cybersecurity Incident'' (Oct. 10, 2017), https:/
/www.equifax.co.uk/about-equifax/press-releases/en_gb/-/blogs/equifax-
ltd-uk-update-regarding-the-ongoing-investigation-into-us-cyber-
security-incident.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
B. Equifax Was at Fault
    Equifax is clearly responsible this breach. The company was 
notified of the vulnerability in its software but failed to make the 
required fixes. Hackers accessed the Equifax database by exploiting a 
known security vulnerability. \9\ The Apache Software Foundation issued 
a statement in March announcing the vulnerability, and the patch was 
made available the same day. \10\ The Department of Homeland Security 
also contacted the three credit reporting agencies back in March to 
notify them of the vulnerability. Yet Equifax left the vulnerability 
unpatched until July 29. By that time the attackers had already seized 
millions of records over several months.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
     \9\ The Apache Software Foundation Blog, ``MEDIA ALERT: The Apache 
Software Foundation Confirms Equifax Data Breach Due to Failure to 
Install Patches Provided for Apache' StrutsTM 
Exploit'' (Sept. 14, 2017), https://blogs.apache.org/foundation/entry/
media-alert-the-apache-software.
     \10\ Id.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    It is also worth emphasizing that Equifax chose to collect this 
data on American customers--American consumers did not choose to 
provide their personal data to Equifax. Also, Equifax pursued a 
security strategy that allowed a single point of failure to permit the 
breach of more than half of the Nation's credit reports.
    Equifax's response to the breach also demonstrated the company's 
incompetence and indifference to data security. Equifax created a 
separate domain--``equifaxsecurity2017.com''--where consumers were 
required to enter their name and the last six digits of their social 
security number to find out if their information was compromised. The 
domain was not registered to Equifax and was running on WordPress, 
causing many browsers to flag it as a phishing threat.
    To demonstrate how easily this domain could be spoofed, a developer 
bought the domain ``securityequifax2017.com'' and made it look exactly 
like the real Equifax support page. \11\ The Equifax even tweeted a 
link of the fraudulent website, thinking it was their own.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
     \11\ Alfred NG, ``Equifax Sends Breach Victims to Fake Support 
Site'', CNET (Sept. 20, 2017), https://www.cnet.com/news/equifax-
twitter-fake-support-site-breach-victims/.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Security researchers later discovered that Equifax's website has 
also been hacked, and contained false Adobe Flash download links that 
trick users into downloading malware that displays unwanted ads online. 
\12\ Furthermore, consumers who contacted Equifax to freeze their 
credit were given PINs to use when they wanted to unfreeze their 
credit. These pins were based on the time and date of the freeze, 
making them easier to guess. \13\ These actions after the breach reveal 
how poorly prepared the company was to assist consumers. The company's 
efforts to mitigate damage caused by the breach have exposed millions 
of Americans to even more risk.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
     \12\ Dan Goodin, ``Equifax Website Borked Again, This Time To 
Redirect to Fake Flash Update'', ArsTechnica (Oct. 12, 2017), https://
arstechnica.com/information-technology/2017/10/equifax-website-hacked-
again-this-time-to-redirect-to-fake-flash-update/.
     \13\ Ron Lieber, ``After Equifax, Here's Your Next Worry: Weak 
PINs'', N.Y. Times (Sept. 10, 2017), https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/
10/your-money/identity-theft/equifax-breach-credit-
freeze.html?rref=collection%2Fbyline%2Fron-lieber.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
C. Equifax Breach Increases the Likelihood of Identity Theft in the 
        United States
    The Equifax breach will cause unprecedented harm to consumers. When 
hackers get access to credit card numbers they can rack up fraudulent 
charges, but consumers are able to cancel their credit cards and get 
new numbers. By contrast, consumers cannot change their social security 
numbers or dates of birth. Equifax's victims are exposed to ongoing 
identity theft and fraud, and the full effects of the damage will not 
be known for years.
    Identity theft is an enormous problem for consumers. The Federal 
Trade Commission reported 399,225 cases of identity theft in the United 
States in 2016. \14\ Of that number, 29 percent involved the use of 
personal data to commit tax fraud. More than 32 percent reported that 
their data was used to commit credit card fraud, up sharply from 16 
percent in 2015. A 2015 report from the Department of Justice found 
that 86 percent of the victims of identity theft experienced the 
fraudulent use of existing account information, such as credit card or 
bank account information. \15\ The same report estimated the cost to 
the U.S. economy at $15.4 billion.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
     \14\ Fed. Trade Comm'n, ``FTC Releases Annual Summary of Consumer 
Complaints'' (March 3, 2017), https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/press-
releases/2017/03/ftc-releases-annual-summary-consumer-complaints.
     \15\ Erika Harrell, ``Bureau of Justice Statistics, Victims of 
Identity Theft'', 2014 (Sept. 27, 2015), https://www.bjs.gov/
index.cfm?ty=pbdetail&iid=5408.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Identity theft can completely derail a person's financial future. 
Criminals who have gained access to others' personally identifiable 
information can open bank accounts and credit cards, take out loans, 
and conduct other financial activities using someone else's identity. 
Identity theft has severe consequences for consumers, including: \16\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
     \16\ Identity Theft Resource Center, ``Identity Theft: The 
Aftermath 2017'', http://www.idtheftcenter.org/images/page-docs/
Aftermath2017Finalv1.pdf.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Being denied of credit cards and loans

    Being unable to rent an apartment or find housing

    Paying increased interest rates on existing credit cards

    Having greater difficulty getting a job

    Suffering severe distress and anxiety
II. The Equifax Breach Underscores the Need for Reform
    The credit reporting industry is in urgent need of reform. An 
industry that collects the most sensitive data of Americans and has 
such a great impact on the U.S. economy must use state of the art 
security measures and must give consumer control over the personal 
data. Instead, credit bureaus cut corners on security, capture the 
upside value of selling credit reports, and transfer the risk to 
consumers for breaches and errors. As companies increasingly rely on 
complex consumer profiling techniques, credit bureaus have amassed vast 
amounts of personal data. Without comprehensive legislation, the data 
breach problem will only get worse.
A. Data Breaches Are an Epidemic in the United States
    The scope of the data breach problem extends well beyond Equifax. 
Data breaches are occurring more frequently across a number of 
industries. According to the Identity Theft Resource Center, data 
breaches in the United States increased by 40 percent in 2016 to a 
record high of 1,093. \17\ As companies collect more data, the risk of 
identity theft is almost certain to increase.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
     \17\ Identity Theft Resource Center, ``Data Breaches Increase 40 
Percent in 2016, Finds New Report'' (Jan. 19, 2017), http://
www.idtheftcenter.org/2016databreaches.html.

    The 2013 Yahoo breach, in which hackers stole names, birth 
        dates, phone numbers, and passwords, is now estimated to have 
        impacted all 3 billion users, making it the largest data breach 
        on record. \18\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
     \18\ Nicole Pelroth, ``All 3 Billion Yahoo Accounts Were Affected 
by 2013 Attack'', New York Times (Oct. 3, 2017), https://
www.nytimes.com/2017/10/03/technology/yahoo-hack-3-billion-users.html.

    In 2015, a data breach at the Office of Personnel 
        Management compromised the personal data, including biometric 
        identifiers, of more than 20 million people, many of them with 
        security clearances. \19\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
     \19\ Ellen Nakashima, ``Hacks of OPM Databases Compromised 22.1 
Million People, Federal Authorities Say'', Wash. Post (Jul. 9, 2015), 
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/federal-eye/wp/2015/07/09/hack-of-
security-clearance-system-affected-21-5-million-people-federal-
authorities-say/.

    Recent data breaches have affected Chipotle, Home Depot, 
        and Target, impacting over 100 million stolen credit card 
        numbers combined. \20\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
     \20\ Lisa Baertlein, ``Chipotle Says Hackers Hit Most Restaurants 
In Data Breach'', Reuters (May 26, 2017), https://www.reuters.com/
article/us-chipotle-cyber/chipotle-says-hackers-hit-most-restaurants-
in-data-breach-idUSKBN18M2BY; Robin Sidel, ``Home Depot's 56 Million 
Card Breach Bigger Than Target's'', Wall Street J. (Sep. 18, 2014), 
https://www.wsj.com/articles/home-depot-breach-bigger-than-targets-
1411073571; ``Target: 40 Million Credit Cards Compromised'', CNN (Dec. 
19, 2013), http://money.cnn.com/2013/12/18/news/companies/target-
credit-card/index.html.

    Data breaches have also impacted large banks, educational 
        institutions, health care providers, and many other businesses. 
        \21\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
     \21\ Greg Farrell and Patricia Hurtado, ``JPMorgan's 2014 Hack 
Tied to Largest Cyber Breach Ever'', Bloomberg (Nov. 10, 2015), https:/
/www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-11-10/hackers-accused-by-u-s-of-
targeting-top-banks-mutual-funds; Brendan Pierson, ``Anthem To Pay 
Record $115 Million To Settle U.S. Lawsuits Over Data Breach'', Reuters 
(June 23, 2017), https://www.reuters.com/article/us-anthem-cyber-
settlement/anthem-to-pay-record-115-million-to-settle-u-s-lawsuits-
over-data-breach-idUSKBN19E2ML; UMD Data Breach, University of 
Maryland, http://www.umd.edu.datasecurity/.

    Data breaches in the credit reporting industry pose an enormous 
threat to consumers. Credit reporting agencies maintain an 
extraordinary amount of personal data, including Social Security 
numbers, birthdates, home addresses, telephone numbers, and driver's 
license records--information that is the holy grail for identity 
thieves.
B. Consumers Lack Control Over Their Credit Reports
    Despite these risks, consumers cannot protect themselves. The 
relationship between the credit reporting industry and the consumer is 
skewed. The industry was built to serve the companies that collect and 
use consumer information and not the consumers themselves. Businesses 
have easy access to credit reports while consumers do not. By law, 
consumers are entitled to only one free credit report per year, and the 
process of obtaining one is cumbersome. \22\ Consumers have no control 
over what information credit reporting agencies collect. Information is 
often out of date, incomplete, or inaccurate, and it is often 
impossible for consumers to correct inaccurate information. \23\ 
Consumers are then wrongfully denied jobs, housing, and credit as a 
result. In these circumstances, consumers are almost always left in the 
dark about how their data was used.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
     \22\ Fed. Trade Comm'n., Free Credit Reports, March 2013, https://
www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0155-free-credit-reports.
     \23\ Id.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Under current law and industry practices, when data breaches occur, 
consumers bear the burden. Consumers only learn of the breach once the 
company decides to notify the public, and then must take costly steps 
to obtain a credit freeze or credit monitoring services. \24\ And 
because consumers cannot choose which companies collect their data, 
they have no control over how vulnerable their information is to 
identity thieves. In sum, the current model is broken, and only 
Congress can fix it. \25\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
     \24\ Fed. Trade Comm'n, Credit Freeze FAQs (2017), https://
www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0497-credit-freeze-faqs.
     \25\ Bruce Schneier, ``Don't Waste Your Breath Complaining to 
Equifax About Data Breach'', CNN, Sep. 11, 2017, http://www.cnn.com/
2017/09/11/opinions/dont-complain-to-equifax-demand-government-act-
opinion-schneier/index.html.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
C. Consumer Profiling Is Growing More Complex and Lacks Transparency
    An invisible system of consumer profiling has emerged. \26\ We now 
face the specter of a ``scored society'' where consumers do not have 
access to the most basic information about how they are evaluated. \27\ 
Data brokers now use secret algorithms to build profiles on every 
American citizen whether they have allowed their personal data to be 
collected or not. \28\ These secret algorithms can be used to determine 
the interest rates on mortgages and credit cards, raise consumers' 
insurance rates, or even deny people jobs. \29\ Data brokers even 
scrape social media and score consumers based on factors such as their 
political activity on Twitter. \30\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
     \26\ Id.
     \27\ Danielle Keats Citron and Frank Pasquale, ``The Scored 
Society: Due Process for Automated Predictions'', 89 Wash. L. Rev. 1 
(2014).
     \28\ Id.
     \29\ ``Exploring the Fintech Landscape'', Hearing Before the S. 
Comm. on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, 115th Cong. 7 (2017) 
(written testimony of Frank Pasquale, Professor of Law, University of 
Maryland).
     \30\ Id.
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    In one recent complaint to the Federal Trade Commission, EPIC 
highlighted the practice of the secret scoring of young athletes. \31\ 
It may seem to odd to think that an activity such as high school 
athletics is now being taken over by proprietary algorithms, but that 
is in fact the case. Once you could say that a runner completed a mile 
in 4:28, a high school basketball player shot 92 percent from the line, 
or a softball player hit .352 for the season. Now it is the secret 
scoring of young athletes that could determine their future.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
     \31\ EPIC, ``EPIC Asks FTC To Stop System for Secret Scoring of 
Young Athletes'' (May 17, 2017), https://epic.org/2017/05/epic-asks-
ftc-to-stop-system-f.html.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Determinations about whether we get a job, a home, or an athletic 
scholarship should not be left to the ``secret judgments of software,'' 
especially when this type of machine learning can lead to 
discrimination. \32\ We not only lack knowledge of the methods being 
used to score us, but we do not even know what underlying information 
about us is being collected. For example, EPIC just filed an amicus 
brief in a case involving a company that scrapes data from user 
profiles on LinkedIn to create scores to evaluate ``flight risk.'' \33\ 
The consumer scoring industry--not just the credit reporting agencies--
needs oversight, accountability, and transparency. \34\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
     \32\ Frank Pasquale, The Black Box Society 8 (2015); Citron and 
Pasquale, supra.
     \33\ EPIC, hiQ Labs, Inc. v. LinkedIn Corp., https://epic.org/
amicus/cfaa/linkedin/.
     \34\ Citron and Pasquale, supra, at 5.
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III. Next Steps To Protect Consumers Following the Equifax Breach
    In the wake of the Equifax breach, immediate action should be taken 
to reform not only the credit reporting industry, but also to address 
the broader problem of secret profiling and mishandling of consumers' 
personal data. It is time to change the defaults and time to put 
consumers back in control of both their credit reports and their 
personal information. Consumers must have free and easy access to their 
credit information, and control over when and how that information is 
disclosed. Companies collecting consumers' personal data must establish 
effective safeguards, including requirements for prompt disclosure of 
any data breach. Congress should end the use of the social security 
number as a general-purpose identifier. And Congress should promote the 
use of innovative technology to minimize the collection of personal 
data.
A. Reform the Industry by Giving Consumers Control Over Their Credit 
        Reports
    The essential problem with the credit reporting industry is that it 
does not work. Consumers have no control over the collection and use of 
their credit reports and bear all the risk when credit reporting 
agencies mishandle their personal information. Data brokers operate in 
the shadows and consumers are left in the dark. That structure is 
backward. Consumers should have free access to their credit information 
and, by default, no credit report should be released to a third party 
without the consumer's express authorization.
    There are already several commonsense proposals that the Congress 
should enact into law:
    Free Credit ``Freezes'' and ``Thaws'' (Change the Default for 
Report Disclosure to ``Opt-in'')
    Credit reporting agencies should change the default on access to 
credit reports by third parties. Instead of the current setting, which 
allows virtually anyone to pull someone's credit report, credit 
reporting agencies should establish a credit freeze for all 
disclosures, with free and easy access for consumers who wish to 
disclose their report for a specific purpose. A credit freeze is one of 
the only mechanisms available to prevent ``new account identity theft'' 
before it happens. \35\ But only four States (Indiana, Maine, North 
Carolina, and South Carolina) mandate free consumer access to credit 
freezes and thaws, while four additional States ``provide free freezes 
but charge for thaws.'' \36\ This means that ``[a]pproximately 158 
million consumers between 18-65 in 42 States and D.C. must pay a fee to 
get credit freezes.'' \37\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
     \35\ See U.S. PIRG, ``Security Freeze and Identity Theft Tips'', 
http://uspirg.org/sites/pirg/files/resources/
Security%20Freeze%20and%20Identity%20Theft%20Tips.pdf.
     \36\ U.S. PIRG, ``Interactive Map Shows Consumers in 42 States 
Have No Access to Free Credit Freezes'' (Oct. 2, 2017), https://
uspirg.org/news/usp/interactive-map-shows-consumers-42-states-have-no-
access-free-credit-freezes.
     \37\ Id.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Provide Free Monitoring and Easy Access to Credit History
    Current laws allow consumers access to free credit reports, but the 
process is cumbersome, and few consumers take advantage. A rationalized 
market would help ensure that consumers have as much information as 
possible about the use of their personal data by others. Instead, 
Equifax and other credit reporting agencies profit from the very 
problems they create. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau also 
fined Equifax and TransUnion earlier this year after finding that the 
companies ``lured consumers into costly recurring payments for credit-
related products with false promises.'' \38\ Credit reporting agencies 
should provide life-long credit monitoring services to consumers at no 
cost. Some credit card companies already offer similar services for 
free. \39\ The credit other reporting agencies should do so as well.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
     \38\ Consumer Fin. Prot. Bureau, ``CFPB Orders TransUnion and 
Equifax to Pay for Deceiving Consumers in Marketing Credit Scores and 
Credit Products'' (Jan. 3, 2017), https://www.consumerfinance.gov/
about-us/newsroom/cfpb-orders-transunion-and-equifax-pay-deceiving-
consumers-marketing-credit-scores-and-credit-products/.
     \39\ See, e.g., Discover, Social Security Alerts (2017), https://
www.discover.com/credit-cards/member-benefits/security/ssn-newaccount-
alerts/.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Mandatory Disclosure of Secret Scores and Algorithms
    Congress should move quickly to address the risks to consumers in 
the credit reporting industry. But the problems in the credit reporting 
industry arise in other industries. We face the specter of a ``scored 
society'' where consumers don't have access to the most basic 
information about how they are evaluated. \40\ ``Algorithmic 
transparency'' is key to accountability. \41\ Absent rules requiring 
the disclosure of these secret scores, lists, and the underlying data 
and algorithms upon which they are based, consumers will have no way to 
even know, let alone solve, these problems.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
     \40\ Id.
     \41\ EPIC, ``Algorithmic Transparency'', https://epic.org/
algorithmic-transparency/.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
B. Improve Breach Notification
    The epidemic of data breaches, and failure of companies to be held 
accountable, cannot continue. Identity theft has reached an 
unprecedented level, yet the companies that amass troves of personal 
data expect consumers to bear the costs of breaches. After a data 
breach occurs, companies such as Equifax urge consumers to check a 
website to find out whether they were affected. \42\ But even these 
vague warnings come weeks or months after the breach has occurred. \43\ 
That is not a workable business response or sensible public policy.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
     \42\ These post-breach websites can also create new risks to 
consumers. See, e.g., Merrit Kennedy, ``After Massive Data Breach, 
Equifax Directed Customers to Fake Site'', NPR (Sept. 21, 2017), http:/
/www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/09/21/552681357/after-massive-
data-breach-equifax-directed-customers-to-fake-site.
     \43\ See, e.g., Michael Hiltzik, ``Here Are All The Ways The 
Equifax Data Breach Is Worse Than You Can Imagine'', L.A. Times (Sept. 
8, 2017), http://www.latimes.com/business/hiltzik/la-fi-hiltzik-
equifax-breach-20170908-story.html.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    It has become clear that these companies cannot effectively police 
themselves. Congress should set national, baseline standards to limit 
the damage caused by data breaches.
    Federal Baseline Data Breach Notification Standard
    At a bare minimum, the Equifax breach underscores the need for a 
baseline Federal data breach notification standard for all companies 
that store personal information. \44\ The only Federal law with a 
breach notification rule is the Health Insurance Portability and 
Accountability Act, which only applies to protected health information. 
\45\ Florida currently has one of the most comprehensive data breach 
laws, providing a mandatory 30-day notification rule, a broad scope, 
and proactive requirements for reasonable data protection measures. 
\46\ A Federal baseline notification standard should go even further, 
requiring immediate and efficient notification of impacted consumers, 
regulators, and the public. \47\ Companies are increasingly interacting 
with consumers on social media and via automated text and email 
messages, so it is reasonable to expect that companies can notify 
consumers within 48-72 hours of a breach.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
     \44\ There are currently breach notification laws in ``[f]orty-
eight States, the District of Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico and the 
Virgin Islands.'' Nat'l Conference of State Legislators, Security 
Breach Notification Laws (Apr. 12, 2017), http://www.ncsl.org/research/
telecommunications-and-information-technology/security-breach-
notification-laws.aspx#1. See also Steptoe and Johnson LLP, 
``Comparison of U.S. State and Federal Security Breach Notification 
Laws'' (Sept. 1, 2017), https://www.steptoe.com/assets/htmldocuments/
SteptoeDataBreachNotification
Chart2017.pdf.
     \45\ 45 CFR 164.400-414. See Steptoe, supra at 202-08. The 
Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act ``Interagency Guidelines'' also discuss consumer 
notice, but the rules do not contain a requirement that notice be given 
within a specific time period. See 12 CFR pt. 224, app. F (Supp. A 
2014); 70 FR 15,736 (2005).
     \46\ EPIC, State Data Breach Notification Policy (2017), https://
epic.org/state-policy/data-breach/.
     \47\ ``Discussion Draft of H.R.----, A Bill to Require Greater 
Protection for Sensitive Consumer Data and Timely Notification in Case 
of Breach'', Hearing before the Subcomm. on Commerce, Manufacturing, 
and Trade of the H. Comm. on Energy and Commerce, 112th Cong. 
(testimony and statement for the record of Marc Rotenberg, Exec. Dir., 
EPIC) https://epic.org/privacy/testimony/
EPIC_Testimony_House_Commerce_6-11_Final.pdf; see also ``H.R. 2221, the 
Data Accountability and Trust Act and H.R. 1319, the Informed P2P User 
Act'', Hearing before the Subcomm. on Commerce, Trade, and Consumer 
Prot. of the H. Comm. on Energy and Commerce, 111th Cong. (2009) 
(testimony and statement for the record of Marc Rotenberg, Exec. Dir., 
EPIC), https://epic.org/linkedfiles/rotenberg_house_ctcp2221_1319.pdf.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Reasonable Data Security Measures
    Prompt breach notifications are necessary to ensure that consumers 
and regulators can quickly deal with a data breach after it happens. 
But more needs to be done to prevent these breaches from happening in 
the first place. For example, the Florida Information Protection Act 
requires that companies collecting consumer data ``take reasonable 
measures to protect and secure data in electronic form containing 
personal information.'' \48\ Companies that collect and store sensitive 
consumer data are in the best position to prevent data breaches, and 
they should be held liable when they fail to adopt reasonable security 
measures. \49\ This is especially important because the Equifax hack 
and other major data breaches caused by known vulnerabilities are 
entirely preventable. \50\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
     \48\ Fla. Stat. 501.171(2) (2017). See EPIC, ``State Data Breach 
Notification Policy'' (2017).
     \49\ Brief of Amicus Curiae EPIC in Support of Appellants, Storm 
v. Paytime, No. 15-3690, at 25-30 (3d Cir. filed Apr. 18, 2016), 
https://epic.org/amicus/data-breach/storm/EPIC-Amicus-Storm-
Paytime.pdf.
     \50\ See Lily Hay Newman, ``Equifax Officially Has No Excuse'', 
Wired (Sept. 14, 2017), https://www.wired.com/story/equifax-breach-no-
excuse/.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Elimination of Consumer Arbitration Waivers
    The most effective way to improve data security is to establish a 
private right of action for consumers who have suffered a breach of 
their personal data. This provides a specific remedy for a specific 
harm. But Equifax did the exact opposite. In response to the data 
breach, the company tried to trick consumer into an arbitration 
agreement, guaranteeing that there would be few legal remedies for 
consumers following the breach. \51\ The Consumer Financial Protection 
Bureau (CFPB) recently banned arbitration clauses in consumer financial 
contracts because class action waivers make it prohibitive for any 
consumers to obtain relief. \52\ Credit reporting agencies and other 
financial institutions should be prohibited from using these 
arbitration agreements to block consumer actions for breach, improper 
disclosure, or misuse of their personal data. And a breach of personal 
data should be sufficient harm to provide a cause of action.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
     \51\ Equifax is the most recent, but not the only, company guilty 
of forcing consumers into arbitration against their interests. See 
David Lazarus, ``The Real Outrage Isn't Equifax's Arbitration Clause--
It's All The Others'', L.A. Times (Sept. 12, 2017), http://
www.latimes.com/business/lazarus/la-fi-lazarus-equifax-arbitration-
clauses-20170912-story.html.
     \52\ 12 CFR 1040; Consumer Fin. Prot. Bureau, ``CFPB Study Finds 
That Arbitration Agreements Limit Relief For Consumers'' (Mar. 10, 
2015) https://www.consumerfinance.gov/about-us/newsroom/cfpb-study-
finds-that-arbitration-agreements-limit-relief-for-consumers/.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Expansion of Gramm-Leach-Bliley Security Rules
    The existing data security requirements for consumer-facing 
financial institutions should extend to credit reporting agencies and 
other companies that sell consumer profiles. The Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act 
already provides for oversight of financial institutions' privacy 
practices by seven regulatory agencies, but the current regime fails to 
address credit reporting agencies. \53\ Specifically, although the 
Dodd-Frank Act transferred authority over certain privacy provisions to 
the CFBP, the law did not transfer regulatory authority to establish 
data security guidelines. \54\ As it stands, the CFPB can only bring 
enforcement actions based on a company's affirmative misrepresentations 
about data security practices. \55\ Given that credit reporting 
agencies hold more sensitive personal data than many of the other 
financial institutions combined, it makes little sense for those 
companies to be exempt from the rules.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
     \53\ 15 U.S.C. 6801; see 79 FR 37166 (2014) (``Section 501(b) of 
the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLB Act) [1] requires the Office of the 
Comptroller of the Currency, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve 
System, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and Office of Thrift 
Supervision (the Agencies), as well as the National Credit Union, the 
Securities and Exchange Commission, and the Federal Trade Commission, 
to establish appropriate standards for the financial institutions 
subject to their respective jurisdictions relating to the 
administrative, technical, and physical safeguards for customer records 
and information.'').
     \54\ Id.
     \55\ See, e.g., Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, ``CFPB Takes 
Action Against Dwolla for Misrepresenting Data Security Practices'' 
(Mar. 2, 2016), https://www.consumerfinance.gov/about-us/newsroom/cfpb-
takes-action-against-dwolla-for-misrepresenting-data-security-pract/.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
C. Limit the Use of the Social Security Number by Private Companies
    Social security numbers have been asked to do too much. They were 
never meant to be used as an all-purpose identifier. \56\ The 
unregulated use of the social security number in the private sector has 
contributed to record levels of identity theft and financial fraud. 
\57\ The recent Equifax breach illustrates this problem, as the social 
security numbers of nearly half of all Americans were stolen. The 
solution is not, however, to replace the social security number with a 
national biometric identifier that raises serious privacy and security 
risks. \58\ Instead, we suggest that the best way to minimize the 
problem of identity theft is to reduce the industry's reliance on the 
social security number as a personal identifier. \59\ Congress should 
prohibit the use of the social security number in the private sector 
without explicit legal authorization.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
     \56\ Marc Rotenberg, ``The Use of the Social Security Number as a 
National Identifier'', 22 Comp. & Soc'y nos. 2, 3, 4 (Oct. 1991).
     \57\ Marc Rotenberg, Equifax, ``The Credit Reporting Industry, And 
What Congress Should Do Next'', Harv. Bus. Rev., (Sep. 20, 2017).
     \58\ EPIC, ``Identity Theft'', http://epic.org/privacy/idtheft/ 
(last visited October 13, 2017).
     \59\ ``Cybersecurity and Data Protection in the Financial Services 
Sector'', Hearing Before the H. Comm. on Fin. Servs., 112th Cong. 
(2011) (statement of Marc Rotenberg, Exec. Dir., EPIC), https://
financialservices.house.gov/uploadedfiles/091411rotenberg.pdf.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
D. Promote Innovative Technology To Minimize the Collection of Personal 
        Data
    The focus should now turn to how companies can minimize the 
collection of personal data and maximize consumer privacy and control. 
There are already initiatives to improve privacy protections in the 
field of data science, and these efforts could be adopted and further 
developed by the companies responsible for protecting consumer data. 
\60\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
     \60\ See, e.g., Comm. on Nat'l Statistics, Div. of Behavioral and 
Social Sciences and Education, Nat'l Academies of Science, Engineering, 
and Medicine, ``Combining Data Sources While Protecting Privacy'' 
(National Academies Press 2017); Cynthia Dwork and Aaron Roth, ``The 
Algorithmic Foundations of Differential Privacy'', 9 Found. & Trends in 
Theoretical Comp. Sci. 211 (2014).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    The newly formed Commission on Evidence-Based Policymaking recently 
issued a report that urged the adoption of privacy enhancement and 
preservation techniques, including ``differential privacy'' algorithms 
that can be used to glean information from data sets without revealing 
personal information. \61\ We have also seen increasingly secure 
methods of two-factor authentication that can minimize the risk of 
phishing and other attempts to compromise personal data. \62\ Even the 
consumer-facing financial companies are beginning to develop better 
mechanisms to enable control and monitoring of accounts, including 
dedicated applications to limit unauthorized debit card charges. \63\ 
These are the techniques that Equifax and other credit reporting 
agencies should invest in to limit harm to consumers going forward.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
     \61\ Marc Rotenberg, ``Let's Use Government Data To Make Better 
Policy'', Sci. Am. (Oct. 4, 2017), https://
blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/let-rsquo-s-use-government-
data-to-make-better-policy/.
     \62\ See Letter from Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Ranking Member, 
Comm. on Finance, to Acting Commissioner Nancy A. Berryhill, Social 
Sec'y Admin. (Oct. 5, 2017) (recommending the use of Universal Second 
Factor (U2F) tokens to secure social security accounts), https://
www.finance.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/100517%20RW%20to%20SSA%20U2F.pdf.
     \63\ See, e.g., Ally Card Controls App (2017) (providing consumers 
with a way to ``turn off'' their debit card whenever they are not using 
it), https://www.ally.com/help/bank/card-controls-app.html. Debit cards 
pose an acute risk to consumers because consumers are not as well 
protected from fraudulent charges as they are with credit cards. See 
U.S. PIRG, Debit Card Facts, http://www.pirg.org/consumer/banks/debit/
debitcards1.htm (last accessed Oct. 13, 2017).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
E. Enact Baseline Privacy Legislation and Establish a Data Protection 
        Agency
    We have urged for many years that the United States update its 
privacy laws to address the challenges posed by new technologies and 
new business practices. The United States was once a leader and 
innovator in privacy protection, but we have now fallen behind many 
other countries that are seeking to ensure that the rapid adoption of 
new technologies does not leave them vulnerable to data breach, 
identity theft, and cyberattack. Certainly, the United States needs to 
do more.
    A good starting point would be to enact the Consumer Privacy Bill 
of Rights, baseline privacy legislation that would put the 
responsibilities on companies that collect and use personal data to 
protect the information they choose to collect. The Consumer Privacy 
Bill of Rights follows the structure of many privacy laws in the United 
States and elsewhere. That means it could both harmonize and simplify 
compliance, and the CPBR could help resolve pending trade disputes with 
Europe and others about the protections for transborder data flows.
    The United States should also establish as Data Protection Agency 
as has virtually every other advanced economy facing the challenges of 
the digital age. The current agencies in the United States tasked with 
protecting consumers and citizens lack the authority and even the 
personnel to do what needs to be done.
    I am aware that these are ambitious recommendations and reach 
beyond the immediate concerns before this Committee. But U.S. 
consumers, businesses, and the U.S. Government face a genuine threat 
from the unbounded collection of personal data without adequate legal 
and technical protections. This data is now the target of foreign 
adversaries. Two years ago it was the OPM breach. Now it is the Equifax 
breach. I am reluctant to imagine the consequences for the United 
States of the next major breach.
Conclusion
    We think it is time now to reform the credit reporting industry and 
to end the practice of building massive, secretive, profiles on 
American consumers that are sold to strangers and obtained by hackers, 
yet are almost impossible for consumers to see or control.
    EPIC supports legislation that will give consumers control over 
their information and establish accountability for companies in the 
personal data industry. EPIC also support techniques that minimize the 
collection of personally identifiable information. And we urge the end 
to the use of the SSN by private companies without legal authority.
    It will come as no surprise that consumers across the country favor 
reform of the credit reporting industry. But I want to end with a story 
that may be surprising. Earlier this fall, I had the opportunity to 
speak with leading CEOs from across the country about the Equifax 
breach. After a brief exchange, the event moderator polled the CEOs. 
Eighty-seven percent said ``the Equifax boss should go'' and 95 percent 
``want stronger consumer privacy laws.'' \64\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
     \64\ CEO Summit, Chief Executive Leadership Institute, Yale School 
of Management, Washington, DC (Sept. 9, 2017), http://som.yale.edu/
faculty-research-centers/centers-initiatives/chief-executive-
leadership-institute/programs/ceo-summit.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    American consumers favor stronger consumer privacy laws. American 
businesses favor stronger consumer privacy laws. Now it is time for 
Congress to Act.
    Thank you for the opportunity to testify today. I will be pleased 
to answer your questions.
                                 ______
                                 
                  PREPARED STATEMENT OF CHRIS JAIKARAN
    Analyst in Cybersecurity Policy, Congressional Research Service
                            October 17, 2017
Introduction
    Chairman Crapo, Ranking Member Brown, and Members of the Committee, 
thank you for the opportunity to testify on consumer data security and 
the credit bureaus. My name is Chris Jaikaran and I am an Analyst in 
Cybersecurity Policy at the Congressional Research Service. In this 
role, I research and analyze cybersecurity issues and their policy 
implications--including issues of data security, protection and 
management.
    My testimony today will include discussion of data security as an 
element of cybersecurity and risk management, analysis and a case study 
on how data breaches occur, a description of cyberincident response, 
and possible options for Congress to address data security and data 
protection. My testimony today is based solely on publicly available 
information and CRS analysis.
Cybersecurity and Data Security
    An increasingly used catch-phrase among industry analysts is that 
today ``all companies are technology companies,'' or ``all companies 
are data companies.'' \1\ This concept reflects the role that 
information technology (IT) and data play in enabling the modern 
business practices that allow companies to compete and thrive in the 
marketplace. This reliance on IT and data also creates risk for 
corporate leadership to manage. Adequately controlling that risk is an 
objective of cybersecurity. \2\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
     \1\ Nathaniel Fink, ``Cybersecurity for a New America: What's Next 
for the Cybersecurity Community'', conference keynote, March 20, 2017, 
at https://youtu.be/wfMpUpxNPAg. Avi Gesser, Gabriel Rosenberg, and 
Matt Kelly, ``Cybersecurity and Data Management'', webinar, Davis Polk 
& Wardwell LLP, October 11, 2017.
     \2\ Risk may be managed by avoiding the risk, controlling the 
risk, transferring the risk, or accepting the risk. DHS Risk Steering 
Committee, ``DHS Risk Lexicon'', report, September 2010, at https://
www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/publications/dhs-risk-lexicon-
2010_0.pdf.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Data security is an element of cybersecurity. At the most basic 
level, cybersecurity is the security of cyberspace, which includes not 
just data, but the networks, hardware, software, services, and 
infrastructure that data relies upon. It is also important to note that 
data does not exist by itself, but is created, manipulated and used by 
people. Consequently, cybersecurity is not just the security of data, 
hardware, software, infrastructure, networks and services--but also the 
human users of cyberspace.
    Computer scientists view data security through three attributes:

    Confidentiality: that the data is only known to authorized 
        parties. A data breach is an example of how confidentiality is 
        breached, while encryption is a tool used to ensure 
        confidentiality.

    Integrity: that the data is known to the authorized parties 
        as intended. Data manipulation is an example of how integrity 
        is breached, while there are data checking technologies, such 
        as blockchain, to ensure that one can verify the integrity of 
        data.

    Availability: that the data is available to authorized 
        parties when they choose. Ransomware attacks availability, 
        while backups are a tool that ensures availability of data.

    Related to integrity is the concept of authentication, an attribute 
that one can verify that data is from a trusted source. The Internet 
was built using technologies that assumed the trust of its users, but 
as the Internet has grown into a global network, anonymity and the 
manipulation of data have proliferated. \3\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
     \3\ CRS In Focus IF10559, Cybersecurity: An Introduction, by Chris 
Jaikaran.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    As an element of cybersecurity, data security involves risk 
management. Absolute security is not obtainable, so managing the risks 
which would impair security is generally considered to be the goal. In 
order to evaluate risk, managers need to understand the threats the 
enterprises may face, the vulnerabilities the enterprise has, and the 
consequences of an incident. \4\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
     \4\ Davis Hake, ``Threat, Vulnerability, Consequence'', interview 
with The Cipher Brief, December 15, 2015, at https://
www.thecipherbrief.com/threat-vulnerability-consequence.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Threats are generally considered to be the gamut of potential human 
attackers. Such attackers include Nation-State actors, criminals and 
insiders to the network. Depending on the data an entity houses, and 
the services it provides, the realm of attackers may change from one 
day to the next, sometimes even driven by events in the news.
    Vulnerabilities exist in software the moment it is shipped to 
users. Adding additional software to a growing enterprise creates 
complexities that can lead to further potential vulnerabilities. Some 
software vulnerabilities are known the day they are shipped and are 
catalogued in the Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures database with 
risk assessments enumerated in the National Vulnerabilities Database. 
\5\ Others are discovered later. Vulnerabilities that are discovered 
but not disclosed to the vendor so they may be patched are called 0-
days (zero or ``oh'' days). However, 0-day vulnerabilities do not 
necessarily create a large risk for enterprises. In addition to a 
vulnerability being present on a system, it must be exploited to cause 
some impact. The exploitation of a vulnerability may be so difficult 
that an entity's risk of falling victim to that 0-day is low. Despite 
0-days being a threat, most cybersecurity incidents occur through 
attackers exploiting known vulnerabilities for which the entity has not 
deployed a patch. \6\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
     \5\ https://cve.mitre.org.; https://nvd.nist.gov.
     \6\ Jory Heckman, ``Hackers Not Yet Pulling Out Big Guns for Data 
Breaches, NSA Official Warns'', Federal News Radio article, October 18, 
2016, at https://federalnewsradio.com/technology/2016/10/hackers-not-
yet-pulling-big-guns-data-breaches-nsa-official-warns/.
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    Consequences may vary based on the business of an entity, the data 
that entity houses, and the stakeholder community for the entity. 
Consequences are also multi-dimensional. The loss of data may inhibit 
business practices, but may also lead to reputational loss, enforcement 
actions, payments to stakeholders, or other impacts.
    An entity may be able to better predict consequences through 
understanding the data in its possession. Using a data model or 
framework can help an entity identify attributes of its data. Such 
attributes include: where data is acquired; what other data the entity 
generates from acquired data; what types (both descriptively and by 
file type) of data is acquired or generated; how the entity will use 
and access data; how the data will be shared with other parties; where 
data is stored, accessed, and transmitted; and what policies exist for 
data retention and data disposal. Such a data model is essentially an 
architecture of the entity's data, similar to the network architecture 
of their IT systems or the blueprints for their building.
    The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Framework 
for Improving Critical Infrastructure Cybersecurity (Framework) 
provides functions, activities and categories in a common format to 
assist entities in thinking through cybersecurity issues and 
identifying resources to assist in completing activities. \7\ (Some of 
these activities include asset management, data security, and detection 
processes.) However, the Cybersecurity Framework is not the only 
reference for organizations to consider using, or a document which they 
can only use exclusively. The Center for Internet Security, the 
International Standards Organization, and ISACA also publish 
cybersecurity frameworks which an entity may use in conjunction with or 
in replacement of the NIST Cybersecurity Framework. \8\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
     \7\ NIST, ``Cybersecurity Framework'', webpage, at https://
www.nist.gov/cyberframework.
     \8\ Cybersecurity frameworks from these organizations can be found 
at https://www.cisecurity.org/controls/; https://www.iso.org/standard/
54533.html; and http://www.isaca.org/cobit/pages/default.aspx. ISACA 
was previously known as the Information Systems Audit and Control 
Association, but now goes by its acronym only.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Anatomy of a Breach
    The recent breach of Equifax provides a timely case study on how 
breaches occur. \9\ While a single command may be executed at a speed 
fast enough for the computer to process it, full attacks are done by 
humans, and as such, occur at human speed. Breaches can be understood 
through an attack framework. \10\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
     \9\ Information on the Equifax breach is derived from testimony 
provided by former CEO Richard Smith before the U.S. Senate Committee 
on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs. Richard Smith, ``Prepared 
Testimony of Richard Smith'', testimony, October 4, 2017, at https://
www.banking.senate.gov/public/--cache/files/da2d3277-d6f4-493a-ad88-
c809781f7011/F143CC8431E6CD31C86ADB64041FB31B.smith-testimony-10-4-
17.pdf.
     \10\ The framework presented in this testimony is based on 
previous analysis by CRS. Further case studies are available via CRS 
Recorded Event WRE00157, ``Cybersecurity: Anatomy of a Breach'', by 
Chris Jaikaran.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    First, an attacker examines the target. Through this examination 
the attacker learns about the target system. This examination is both 
online and off. Business cards provide the naming convention for user 
accounts on the system (in the form of email addresses), while digital 
tools can provide information on services running on Internet-facing 
services. In the case of Equifax, scans of their credit report dispute 
website may discover that Apache Struts was an available service and 
that it was running under a vulnerable version. \11\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
     \11\ Apache Struts is a developer framework which allows for 
common programming languages, such as Java, to be used to develop user 
facing web applications. It is open source software maintained by the 
Apache Software Foundation, https://struts.apache.org/.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Second, an attacker exploits a vulnerability. This initial 
exploitation provides the entryway for an attacker into the system or 
network. As stated earlier, vulnerabilities themselves do not 
necessarily create a significant risk scenario for an enterprise, but 
an exploitation of that vulnerability may. In some cases, a single 
vulnerability is required to gain access, while in others multiple 
vulnerabilities may be used to create an effective exploit. In the case 
of Equifax, a vulnerability in an earlier version of Apache Struts 
allowed for remote code execution. \12\ NIST deemed this type of 
vulnerability as critical, and the Apache Foundation patched it and 
provided an additional work around. \13\ At the time it was patched, it 
was also added to penetration testing software so that system 
administrators could test to see if they were still vulnerable to 
exploitation. \14\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
     \12\ CVE, ``CVE-2017-5638'', data base entry, at https://
cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=CVE-2017-5638.
     \13\ NIST, ``CVE-201705638 Detail'', webpage, March 10, 2017, at 
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2017-5638. Apache Foundation, 
``S2-045,'' webpage, at https://struts.apache.org/docs/s2-045.html.
     \14\ The exploitation of CVE-2017-5638 was added to the Metasploit 
Framework. https://github.com/rapid7/metasploit-framework/issues/8064.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Third, after the initial exploitation, attackers entrench into the 
system. By entrenching into a system, attackers are discovering more 
about the network they have penetrated. In this phase, they gain access 
to additional systems in that network, escalate their privileges so 
that they have further access, and acquire additional credentials. In 
the case of Equifax, how attackers entrenched into the system is 
publicly unknown. However, many instances of Apache Struts run on web 
servers with default administrative credentials, which may have 
provided the next step for an attacker to entrench into the system. 
\15\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
     \15\ Hector Monsegur, ``How To Fight Hackers, With Former Black-
Hat Hacker Hector Monsegur'', podcast, October 2, 2017, at https://
lifehacker.com/how-to-protect-yourself-from-hackers-with-hector-monse-
1819075906.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    While he was the Chief of the National Security Agency's Tailored 
Access Operations unit, current White House Cybersecurity Coordinator 
Rob Joyce said that ``you know the things you intend to have in your 
network, we look for the things that are actually in your network.'' 
\16\ This summarizes the relationship between defenders and attackers. 
Defenders know what they acquired, deployed and intend to have on their 
network, while attackers know the vulnerabilities and what else is 
running on that network. Exploiting vulnerabilities and entrenching 
into systems takes advantage of this asymmetric knowledge.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
     \16\ Rob Joyce, ``USENIX Enigma 2016--NSA TAO Chief on Disrupting 
Nation State Hackers'', conference talk, January 28, 2016, at https://
www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDJb8WOJYdA.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Fourth, after gaining access, attackers can then execute steps to 
achieve their objectives. These objectives could be to compromise the 
confidentiality of the data by stealing it. Confidentiality is not only 
compromised by theft, but also by access. This distinction is referred 
to as exposure versus exfiltration. Data is exposed when an 
unauthorized party may access it on an entity's network, but it is 
exfiltrated when they take it off that network. This relationship is 
akin to perusing books in a library but only checking out one. All the 
books are exposed to a patron, but only the borrowed book is 
exfiltrated. The integrity of data may be compromised by altering the 
data in a system. Alternatively, the availability of the data may be 
compromised by deleting it or otherwise making it unavailable (e.g., 
through encrypting data in a ransomware attack). In the case of 
Equifax, it appears that over 145 million people had their data 
exposed, while some had their dispute documents (which contain 
personally identifiable information) and credit card information 
exfiltrated.
    Finally, the attackers would exit on their terms. After achieving 
their objectives, the attackers would seek to leave the system so that 
they may have access again at a later date, or to cover evidence of 
their activities. Deleting log files, adding connections to network 
whitelists and creating credentials are examples of activities an 
attacker would undergo to exit the compromised system on their terms. 
In the case of Equifax, it is unknown from publicly available sources 
what attackers did in this phase.
    By understanding how attacks occur through such a framework, system 
defenders could develop defense-in-depth strategies to mitigate 
breaches. Defense-in-depth is an approach which uses layered 
countermeasures to defend against cybersecurity risks throughout a 
network. \17\ Countermeasures could be layered to address each phase of 
an attack so that defenders are quickly alerted to attacks and can take 
actions to prevent further damage to their enterprise.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
     \17\ Industrial Control Systems Cyber Emergency Response Team, 
``Recommended Practice: Improving Industrial Control System 
Cybersecurity with Defense-in-Depth Strategies'', report, September 
2016, at https://ics-cert.us-cert.gov/sites/default/files/
recommended_practices/NCCIC_ICS-CERT_Defense_in_Depth_2016_S508C.pdf.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cybersecurity Incident Response
    Cybersecurity incident response describes when system 
administrators seek to confirm the attack, discover information about 
it, and mitigate against it. The response as described below is from 
the breached entity's perspective, and does not discuss Government 
response options.
    Incident response is not limited to the time immediately following 
an attack, however. Before an attack, response planning, training, and 
exercising can occur. Response planning helps an organization think 
though its risks and how it will respond to those risks, train its 
personnel on how to respond to attacks, and practice its response to 
build confidence in staff and management as to the organization's 
capability and capacity to manage incidents.
    For incident response, staff is not limited to just IT personnel. 
Response planning should also include, among others, communications 
staff that are able to craft messages to both internal and external 
stakeholders, legal teams who can help with reporting and compliance 
requirements, and management and corporate boards who are accountable 
for the operations of a corporation.
    There will be a delay between the discovery of an attack and public 
notification of that attack because analysis of what transpired will 
need to be conducted. This analysis will inform the entity of how they 
were breached and what data or systems were compromised. This type of 
analysis may be conducted by the entity itself, a business partner of 
the entity, Government response teams and law enforcement. With a 
variety of potential forensic investigators, determining how they will 
coordinate in their response and how they will share information among 
one another is a factor that can be determined during the planning and 
training phase. With information on how the breach happened and the 
extent of the breach, the entity can proceed to mitigate its affects. 
These two phases need not occur in succession, but may be able to occur 
concurrently.
    Finally, the organization can improve their data security and 
response planning by learning from their efforts and applying insights 
gained.
Potential Options for Congress
    Three options for Congress are presented below to generate 
discussion. They are not recommendations from CRS. Given time 
constraints, these options are provided with limited policy discussion 
and are not exhaustive.
Authorize a Federal Agency To Examine for Information Security
    Congress can authorize a Federal agency to engage in supervisory 
examinations of the credit reporting agencies (CRAs) for compliance 
with the safeguards rule. \18\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
     \18\ 16 CFR 314
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    As an example, the Consumer Financial Protection Board (CFPB) has 
broad authority to bring enforcement cases against corporations for 
unfair and deceptive business practices. CRS research could not 
identify an enforcement case or issued guidance where CFPB sought to 
address information security. This may be because CFPB has an express 
prohibition against issuing rules concerning information security and 
bringing enforcement actions against an entity concerning information 
security. Instead, the authority to issue a standard for the protection 
of nonpublic personal information, and enforce that standard, is 
retained by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). \19\ The FTC issued the 
safeguards rule in 2002 pursuant to the authority referenced above and 
is currently seeking public comment on an update. \20\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
     \19\ 15 U.S.C. 6801, 6804, 6805.
     \20\ 16 CFR 314. https://www.ftc.gov/enforcement/rules/
rulemaking-regulatory-reform-proceedings/safeguards-rule.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Instead of engaging with CRAs after a cybersecurity incident, CFPB 
has the authority to supervise CRAs prior to an incident occurring. 
\21\ Congress could explicitly authorize CFPB to examine CRAs for their 
adherence to the safeguards rule, as promulgated by the FTC. The 
dialogue created by CFPB and a CRA could lead to greater understanding 
of the cybersecurity risk faced by the CRAs and allow CRAs with 
deficiencies to correct their data security measures prior to referral 
to FTC for enforcement action. As this is not an activity CFPB 
currently engages in during an examination, a new program may need to 
be established in the CFPB to recruit the talent to manage such a 
technical examination. \22\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
     \21\ 12 U.S.C. 5514.
     \22\ Current CFPB examination procedures may be found online at 
https://www.consumerfinance.gov/policy-compliance/guidance/supervision-
examinations/.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Regulate Personal Data Collection and Use
    Congress could regulate the collection, use, and retention of data 
regardless of the type of entity housing that data. The European Union 
has such a regulation known as the General Data Protection Regulation 
(GDPR), and Canada is in the process of updating their Personal 
Information Protection and Electronics Document Act (PIPEDA). \23\ In 
proactively regulating data, Congress can establish data use 
requirements. Some of those requirements may include what data may be 
collected, how data must be stored (e.g., encryption, location, etc.), 
the consumer's rights to collection and use of data about them, and 
under which circumstances data may be shared with other parties. While 
the United States does not have an overarching law governing data use, 
U.S. agencies have promulgated guidance on data protection. \24\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
     \23\ http://www.eugdpr.org/; https://www.priv.gc.ca/en/privacy-
topics/privacy-laws-in-canada/the-personal-information-protection-and-
electronic-documents-act-pipeda/.
     \24\ FTC, ``Protecting Personal Information'', guide, October 
2016, at https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/documents/plain-language/pdf-
0136_proteting-personal-information.pdf.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Require Data Transparency
    Congress could require CRAs, or any entity that profits from 
consumer data, to identify and disclose their data model to consumers. 
Disclosure of all elements of the model may not be necessary (i.e., 
where data is stored). However, some elements such as where data is 
acquired, how it is used, and what other data the entity generates 
about the consumer may provide consumers with additional information 
and affect their decisions in the marketplace. For example, if a 
consumer knew that a CRA acquired data from a company they have a 
business relationship with, they may choose to limit their interactions 
with that company or seek out an opt-out/opt-in form from that business 
to limit how their data may be shared.
Conclusion
    Thank you for the opportunity to testify today. I look forward to 
your questions. If you require further analysis of these options, or 
other policy issues before Congress, my colleagues and I at the CRS 
stand ready to assist you.
        RESPONSES TO WRITTEN QUESTIONS OF CHAIRMAN CRAPO
                      FROM ANDREW M. SMITH

Q.1. What is the most effective action a consumer can take to 
protect against identity theft if the consumer's information 
has been compromised? Please include a detailed description of 
the differences between credit freezes, credit locks, and fraud 
alerts, including how long each takes to activate and de-
activate and the relative benefits and drawbacks of each.

A.1. There are many ways for consumers to protect themselves if 
they believe that they may be at risk of identity theft. The 
first step is to check credit card statements and free credit 
reports for charges and accounts that are unfamiliar. Consumers 
should also consider placing an initial fraud alert, an 
extended fraud alert and, if in the military, a military alert. 
Consumers should also consider engaging a credit monitoring 
service--there are a number of free services available.
    Freezes are another option, though they may not be the best 
choice for many consumers. Although credit freezes may seem 
like a good idea in the abstract, for those who may become 
credit active they could be a problem. Press stories \1\ have 
recently noted that some with credit freezes have missed out on 
opportunities because they had a credit freeze.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
     \1\ See, e.g.: http://appleinsider.com/articles/17/10/27/iphone-x-
orders-held-up-by-credit-freezes-put-in-place-after-equifax-hack and 
http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2017/09/14/apple-iphone-x-equifax-
data-breach-credit-freeze/.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    If a consumer nonetheless chooses a freeze, all three 
national credit bureaus offer freezes to consumers regardless 
of their place of residence. Freezes are free for victims of 
identity theft and minors who have a credit file.
    A lock is intended to work similarly to a credit freeze. 
Consumers who place freezes do so in order to ensure that no 
new credit can be offered without their explicit agreement, and 
a lock will achieve that consumer goal, but will be much easier 
for consumers to use, as it will be app-based and occur in real 
time. By contrast, freezes are State-regulated and are 
generally PIN-based systems.
    Legally, there are important differences between locks and 
freezes. Freezes are State-mandated products that are heavily 
regulated. In many States PINs are mandated as authentication, 
and if a consumer has the PIN, the freeze can be lifted almost 
immediately. If the consumer has lost the PIN, however, it can 
take days for a new PIN to be mailed to a consumer's address 
and for the consumer to again contact the company.
    Lock products, by contrast, are not State-mandated products 
and require consumers to enter into a formal business 
relationship with the company. This is an important distinction 
between the two products.
    For the consumer, the lock will deliver the same 
functionality as a freeze, but do so in a less cumbersome 
fashion.

Q.2. Are credit bureaus required to provide data to any Federal 
agency? If so, is it mandated or at the request of the 
regulator; what data is provided; what agency is it provided 
to; and is the data sold or provided for free?

A.2. CRAs are only able to deliver data for permissible 
purposes as defined in Section 604 of the Fair Credit Reporting 
Act. There are a number of legitimate Government purposes for 
obtaining credit reports, including benefit eligibility and 
child support enforcement.
    Some agencies of the U.S. Government purchase aggregated, 
anonymized data from our companies for market monitoring and 
research purposes. This information is not regulated under the 
Fair Credit Reporting Act because it is not identifiable to any 
specific individual.
    Credit bureaus are required to provide credit report 
information to Government agencies for counterterrorism 
purposes and to the FBI for counterintelligence purposes, upon 
an appropriate certification from the agency. These provisions 
were added to the FCRA by the USA PATRIOT Act and 2001. We are 
not aware of any other provisions requiring credit bureaus to 
provide credit report information to Government agencies.

Q.3. Many States have laws requiring credit bureaus to provide 
credit freezes. Can you describe what these laws generally 
require and discuss whether it is appropriate for Congress to 
create a Federal standard?

A.3. All 50 States have credit freeze laws and while there are 
a number of similarities, there are enough variations among the 
States that a Federal standard on credit freezes would equalize 
treatment of these important products across the country, 
offering certainty to a mobile population.
                                ------                                


        RESPONSES TO WRITTEN QUESTIONS OF SENATOR BROWN
                      FROM ANDREW M. SMITH

Q.1. In your testimony, you claimed that consumer reporting 
agencies charge for security freezes due to a ``patchwork of 
laws.'' This statement seems to imply that State laws require 
consumer reporting agencies to charge for security freezes. But 
isn't it true that State laws generally cap the fees that 
consumer reporting agencies can charge for security freezes 
(i.e., they set a ceiling, not a floor)? Ohio law, for example, 
provides that a consumer reporting agency ``may'' charge a fee 
for placing, removing, or temporarily lifting a fee. See Ohio 
Rev. Code 1349.52(I). Is it your position that Ohio's and 
other States' laws nevertheless require consumer reporting 
agencies to charge fees for security freezes?

A.1. It is not our position that the Ohio law requires consumer 
reporting agencies to charge a fee for security freezes. 
However, in most cases, the credit bureaus have good reason to 
charge a fee, a fact that State legislators have recognized in 
explicitly permitting the bureaus to charge such a fee. Credit 
bureaus are not the breached entity in most cases \1\ and they 
should not be forced to pay to absorb the costs of a breach 
caused by someone else. In other cases, States do not require 
service providers to pay for criminal activity unrelated to 
their service, for example: States do not require a burglar 
alarm company to give away services for thefts in a 
neighborhood.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
     \1\ The largest breaches in history have been, in numerical order 
of consumers affected, Yahoo!, Adult Friend Finder, eBay, Equifax, 
Heartland Payment Systems, Target, TJX (TJ Maxx), JP Morgan, U.S. 
Office of Personnel Management, and Sony's PlayStation Network. Taylor 
Armeding, ``The 16 Biggest Data Breaches of the 21st Century'', CSO, 
Oct. 11, 2017, https://www.csoonline.com/article/2130877/data-breach/
the-16-biggest-data-breaches-of-the-21st-century.html.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    For victims of identity theft, consumers in every State are 
entitled to free credit freezes. The freeze fee is low and 
allows credit bureaus to recover some of the costs for 
providing freezes. This service is not a profit center for any 
company. The administrative fee instead helps to cover the 
costs of providing the freeze service to consumers, including 
the maintenance of the technology to implement the freeze 
system.

Q.2. Although Equifax has offered a free security freeze in the 
wake of the breach, other consumer reporting agencies have 
refused to offer a free security freeze. Will Consumer Data 
Industry Association (CDIA) members other than Equifax offer a 
free security freeze or will they only do it if required by law 
to do so?

A.2. The consumer reporting agencies that were not the subject 
of a hack or a breach will continue to charge non-ID theft 
victims for credit freezes as permitted by law. Identity theft 
victims are entitled to free freezes. As noted, the 
administrative fees for credit freezes help to cover the costs 
of providing the freeze service to consumers, including the 
development and maintenance of the technology to implement the 
freeze system and the consumer counseling required to explain 
the freeze and how to manage the freeze.

Q.3. To purchase products like credit monitoring from consumer 
reporting agencies, consumers frequently must sign forced-
arbitration clauses in fine print. In your testimony, you 
implied that these forced-arbitration clauses apply only to 
disputes related to the products that consumers are purchasing. 
But many consumer reporting agencies' forced-arbitration 
clauses would appear to cover claims beyond just these 
products. For example, Equifax's forced-arbitration clause 
provides that ``[a]ny Claim . . . raised by either [the 
consumer] or Equifax against the other shall be subject to 
mandatory, binding arbitration.'' The clause defines ``Claim'' 
as meaning ``any claim, dispute, or controversy between [the 
consumer] and [Equifax] relating in any way to [the consumer's] 
relationship with Equifax.'' Likewise, one of Experian's 
forced-arbitration clauses extends to ``all disputes and claims 
between [the consumer and Experian], except any disputes or 
claims which under governing law are not subject to 
arbitration.'' TransUnion has a similarly broad forced-
arbitration clause, and all three companies deprive consumers 
of their rights to band together in class actions. Is it your 
legal opinion that these clauses nevertheless cover only 
disputes related to the specific products that consumers are 
purchasing?

A.3. A legal opinion on the specifics of the three nationwide 
credit bureaus' arbitration clauses and the scope of those 
clauses are best left to the companies offering those clauses.

Q.4. During the hearing, I asked you to tell the consumer 
reporting agencies that you represent that there is strong 
sentiment that they should not include forced-arbitration 
clauses in their credit-lock products. What message did you 
convey to them? If there is written correspondence, please 
provide a copy of that correspondence for the record. Please 
also provide any response by the consumer reporting agencies or 
their representatives.

A.4. I have notified the U.S. General Counsel at Equifax, 
Experian, and TransUnion that you have asked me to convey to 
them your concerns regarding arbitration clauses. My message 
was as follows: ``In the October 17 Senate Banking Committee 
hearing on credit bureaus and data security, Senator Brown 
asked me to convey to the three nationwide consumer reporting 
agencies that ``there is strong sentiment'' that consumer 
reporting agencies should not include forced arbitration 
clauses in their credit lock products.'' They have confirmed 
receipt of my message.

Q.5. In your testimony, you stated that forced-arbitration 
clauses play a ``special role'' with respect to credit-
monitoring and other credit-report-related products because of 
the ``exigent circumstance'' created by the Credit Repair 
Organizations Act's ``stringent penalties.'' As you know, 
Congress passed this Act after finding that certain business 
practices of credit repair organizations had ``worked a 
financial hardship upon consumers, particularly those of 
limited economic means and who are inexperienced in credit 
matters.'' Thus, ``to protect the public from unfair or 
deceptive advertising and business practices'' by these 
organizations, Congress allowed consumers to recover 
compensation for harm caused by the organizations' deceptive 
conduct. In your opinion, could any of the three national 
consumer reporting agencies' use their force-arbitration 
clauses to legally block consumers from banding together in 
class actions to sue under the Credit Repair Organizations Act?

A.5. The Credit Repair Organizations Act (CROA) was never 
intended to apply to credit bureaus, which are heavily 
regulated by the FCRA, yet some courts have not correctly 
interpreted CROA. This misapplication of law is why credit 
bureaus feel compelled to provide arbitration clauses, and it 
is why we have urged Congress to amend CROA. I have attached an 
April 14, 2017, letter from CDIA to Chairman Crapo and Ranking 
Member Brown where CDIA advocated for, among other things, 
Congressional assistance to amend CROA.
    In short, the broad definitions in CROA have labeled 
traditional consumer reporting agencies as CROs, subjecting 
consumer reporting agencies to CROA's strict liability 
provisions when they seek to offer legitimate credit education 
services to consumers.
    Misinterpretation of CROA by the courts has stretched the 
law beyond Congressional intent of combatting fraudulent credit 
repair practices. Recent judicial decisions have even swept in 
standard credit monitoring services and identity theft 
protection services, as well as other credit education services 
that consumers seek. \2\ This expansion has deterred trusted 
companies from providing legitimate credit education products 
to consumers, including innovative credit simulators that help 
consumers understand personalized steps to improve their credit 
scores. If CROA remains unchanged, consumers are effectively 
prevented from accessing these tools.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
     \2\ See, Stout v. FreeScore, 743 F.3d 680 (9th Cir. 2014).

Q.6. In your testimony, you implied that if Americans had the 
right to make consumer reporting agencies delete their data, 
consumers would use this right to ``selectively delete'' 
negative but accurate information. Do any CDIA members operate 
in countries whose laws provide for a ``right of erasure'' 
similar to the right that exists under the EU General Data 
Protection Regulation (GDPR)? If so, please provide (1) 
concrete, credible examples of instances where consumers have 
exercised this right to selectively delete negative but 
accurate credit information from CDIA members' files and (2) 
the total number of such instances reported and confirmed in 
2016 (by country). In each case, please include only those 
instances for which you can confirm the accuracy of the 
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
information that the consumer sought to delete.

A.6. When a consumer has the ability to selectively delete the 
parts of their credit history that are accurate but derogatory, 
the entire credit system suffers and safety and soundness of 
the financial system is jeopardized. It is hard to imagine a 
credit system where a consumer can delete late payments and 
keep only on time payment history. Full file reporting is a 
value supported by credit bureaus, lenders, and the prudential 
regulators.
    In 1999, several Federal banking regulators took note that 
some national financial institutions were not fully reporting 
data to consumer reporting agencies. In response to this 
situation, the Comptroller of the Currency called this a 
``particularly objectionable practice''. This ``[f]ailure to 
report may not be explicitly illegal[, b]ut it can be readily 
characterized as unfair; it may well be deceptive, and--in any 
context--it's abusive.'' \3\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
     \3\ Remarks by John D. Hawke, Comptroller of the Currency, before 
a conference sponsored by the Consumer Bankers Association, San 
Francisco, California, June 7, 1999. See also, Federal Financial 
Institutions Examination Council Advisory Letter to Chief Executive 
Officers regarding Consumer Credit Reporting Practices, Jan. 18, 2000.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Similarly, under EU law, the ``right to be forgotten'' does 
not actually grant consumers the power to selectively delete 
information from their credit report. The ``right to be 
forgotten'' will not over-ride the legitimate interest 
financial entities and CRAs have to share a complete and 
accurate credit file. In these respects, the credit reporting 
systems in the EU work remarkably similarly to the credit 
reporting system in the U.S. under the Fair Credit Reporting 
Act. The GDPR recognizes that a fair, affordable and efficient 
credit market demands accurate reporting of debts and payment 
histories to and from CRAs. The tenets of legitimate interest 
are balanced by providing transparency and access for consumers 
with their right to challenge and correct inaccurate 
information.
    Although there may be some temporary confusion about how 
the GDPR will work with respect to consumer consent for credit 
reference agencies (CRAs) to collect information from lenders, 
and the ``right to be forgotten'' or right of erasure, CDIA 
members do not anticipate material changes to the way credit 
reporting currently works in the majority of EU countries as a 
result of GDPR.
    GDPR provides for six bases by which information can be 
processed, consent being only one of them. In the context of 
credit reporting, the relevant basis for information processing 
is the ``legitimate interest'' of the data processor.
    In the U.K., the Information Commissioners Office (ICO), 
the Government agency that interprets and enforces GDPR in the 
U.K., has already provided written guidance that consumer 
consent is not needed for sharing of credit information with 
CRAs. The ICO has said that both lenders and CRAs in the U.K. 
can rely upon the basis of ``legitimate interest'' for the 
sharing of credit data, and that the consent of the consumer is 
not needed under GDPR.
    Similarly, the ``right to be forgotten'' will not over-ride 
the legitimate interest financial entities and CRAs have to 
share a complete and accurate credit file. In these respects, 
the credit reporting systems in the EU work similarly to the 
credit reporting system in the U.S. under the Fair Credit 
Reporting Act. The Europeans have learned of the importance of 
a robust credit reporting system from the U.S. experience, and 
the GDPR appropriately recognizes that a fair, affordable and 
efficient credit market demands accurate reporting of debts and 
payment histories to and from CRAs. The tenets of legitimate 
interest are balanced by providing transparency and access for 
consumers, as well as a right to challenge and correct 
inaccurate information.
    The inability of lenders to fully understand credit risk 
associated with the extension of consumer loans would 
negatively affect the price and availability of credit in the 
EU and introduce systemic risk into the banking systems of 
individual country and EU banking systems. Therefore, in the 
context of credit reporting, the legitimate interests of 
financial institutions to understand an individual's credit 
risk outweighs an individual's right to be forgotten.

Q.7. For each of the three national consumer reporting 
agencies, please provide a list of all EU countries (including 
the United Kingdom) in which the company or any of its 
affiliates operates. For each agency--country combination, 
please list the applicable division or business unit's revenue, 
operating income, and operating margin (each according to 
generally accepted accounting principles). Additionally, for 
each agency--country combination, please state whether the 
agency intends to withdraw from the country when the new GDPR 
(or its U.K. equivalent) goes into effect.

A.7. Based on information provided by the three nationwide 
credit bureaus, we can relay the following information:
    Trans Union does not operate any consumer credit reporting 
businesses in any EU countries and does not realize any revenue 
or income from consumer credit reporting activities in any EU 
countries.
    Experian Operates consumer credit bureaus in the following 
EU countries:

 
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                     Annual Revenues      Operating Income     Operating Margin
                     Country                              FY2017               FY2017               FY2017
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
United Kingdom & Ireland.........................        $807,400,000         $245,900,000               30.55%
Other EU Countries: Italy, Spain, Denmark,                $96,100,000          $20,900,000               25.04%
 Netherlands.....................................
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Equifax operates in the following EU countries:

 
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                     Annual Revenues      Operating Income     Operating Margin
                     Country                              FY2017               FY2017               FY2017
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
United Kingdom...................................        $156,200,000          $27,700,000                17.7%
Spain............................................         $42,500,000           $8,800,000                20.7%
Ireland..........................................                   -         ($2,000,000)                  N/A
Portugal.........................................            $600,000                   $0                -1.0%
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Neither Experian nor Equifax intends to withdraw from any 
country in which it operates consumer credit bureaus when the 
new GDPR or its equivalent goes into effect in May 2018.

Q.8. Please describe, in concrete terms, the actions that CDIA 
members operating in the European Union (including the United 
Kingdom) are taking to comply with the GDPR (or its U.K. 
equivalent), including how they plan to accommodate the right 
of erasure.

A.8. For this answer, we have asked the three major credit 
bureaus to respond directly.
    Answer from Experian:
    Experian is currently engaged to ensure they are in 
compliance with the GDPR in each country in which they operate 
at the time the GDPR becomes effective in May 2018. This effort 
includes a review and, where necessary, changes to Experian's 
guidelines, policies and practices relating to our credit 
bureau operations in the EU.
    Answer from Equifax:
    Our current analysis indicates that Equifax's U.S. 
operations do not process data that is subject to the 
extraterritorial application of GDPR. As such, Equifax is 
taking measures to comply with its contractual obligations 
under data processing agreements with data controllers or 
processors that have indicated that the data they provide to 
Equifax for processing in the U.S. is subject to GDPR.
    In the U.K., Equifax has been investing and working on its 
GDPR compliance project since 2016, including following the 12 
step approach as outlined and promoted by the U.K. data 
protection regulator, the Information Commissioner's Office 
(ICO).
    These actions include reviewing and updating (as 
appropriate) contractual arrangements with clients, suppliers 
and processors with up-to-date GDPR contractual terms and 
ensuring contractual terms include cooperation and assistance 
provisions between the parties so that Data Subject Rights 
(including the right of erasure) can be fulfilled where 
appropriate and required.
    In addition, regarding the right of erasure, Equifax is 
working on a joint exercise with the other U.K. CRAs, the ICO 
and key financial services clients to implement a standard U.K. 
Credit Reference Agency Information Notice (CRAIN) that all 
credit data sharers must utilize in their interactions with 
their customers post-GDPR. This standard will ensure the 
ongoing, lawful sharing and processing of credit report 
information.
    In Iberia, Equifax has also been working on its GDPR 
compliance project since 2016. In common with the U.K., this 
activity includes reviewing and updating (as appropriate) 
contractual arrangements with clients, suppliers and processors 
with up-to-date GDPR contractual terms. In addition to the 
requirements of the GDPR, a forthcoming Spanish data protection 
regulation will affect the business.
    The review of operations includes the right of erasure in 
respect of both `negative' (missed payments) and `positive' 
bureau data, to which different procedures apply.
    Equifax is taking the necessary steps toward achieving 
compliance with GDPR on or before the May 2018 deadline.

Q.9. Would there be any benefits from consistency between U.S. 
and EU privacy standards?

A.9. Each country's financial system is different, but the 
framework laid out in the Fair Credit Reporting Act has led to 
the most democratic and fair credit system in the world, and in 
so far as this being a goal, we would urge adoption of U.S. 
principles in Europe and across the world.

Q.10. In your testimony, you stated that consumers have access 
to ``all of the information on file about them with consumer 
reporting agencies.'' But isn't it true that consumer reporting 
agencies or their affiliates often collect information that is 
not contained in the free annual credit reports that consumers 
can obtain? Please provide a list of all types of data 
collected by the three national consumer reporting agencies and 
their affiliates that is not contained in the free credit 
report that consumers can obtain under FCRA.

A.10. Federal law requires that consumer reporting agencies 
provide to consumers ``All information in the consumer's 
file.'' \4\ The definition of a ``file'' is quite broad and 
means ``all of the information on that consumer recorded and 
retained by a consumer reporting agency regardless of how the 
information is stored.'' \5\ under case law and FTC guidance, 
these definitions have been broadly interpreted to include 
information that might possibly be included in a consumer 
report about the subject consumer; this includes the 
identifying information on file with the credit bureau, a 
history of their payments on various credit lines and loans, 
and public record information, such as liens and judgements.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
     \4\ 15 U.S. Code 1681g.
     \5\ 15 U.S. Code 1681a(g).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                ------                                


        RESPONSES TO WRITTEN QUESTIONS OF SENATOR SCHATZ
                      FROM ANDREW M. SMITH

Q.1. What is the cost to consumer reporting agencies to place 
security freezes on consumers' credit reports? Please compare 
that to the cost of providing consumers with the ability to 
``lock'' and ``unlock'' their credit reports.

A.1. It is difficult to precisely measure the costs of 
providing security freezes, but the costs are certainly such 
that the three nationwide credit bureaus do not make a profit 
from their freeze obligations, even in those States where a fee 
is permitted.
    Costs arise from a number of sources. Generally, CDIA 
members balance between limiting costs and investing in 
innovation in this space. In addition, different States have 
different requirements for placing security freezes on credit 
files. These laws require companies to maintain certain 
functionalities for consumers, including training and 
maintaining call center employees. Other costs come from 
operating secure web channels and maintaining PINs for 
consumers. While most States allow for some cost recovery, as 
noted above, none of the three nationwide credit bureaus 
realize a profit on their security freeze obligations.
    Furthermore, companies are investing significant resources 
into their credit lock options for consumers. In addition to 
significant development costs, there will be ongoing costs 
related to maintaining and upgrading secure systems. Despite 
the significant costs, we believe that the app-based systems 
meet consumer demand for more simplified interaction when 
setting and lifting a lock.

Q.2. Please explain how long it takes the consumer reporting 
agencies to process a request to freeze or unfreeze their 
credit report. Please explain how this length of time differs 
from the credit lock products that they offer, which enable 
consumers the ability to ``lock'' or ``unlock'' their credit 
reports instantaneously.

A.2. It depends through which channel a consumer request 
arrives. Most credit freeze laws require that a temporary lift 
of a freeze be completed within three business days of the 
request. Under most State freeze laws, if a consumer request 
comes through the internet or by phone, a temporary lift can be 
done within 15 minutes of the request, assuming the consumer 
provide the correct PIN.
    A lock product assumes that a consumer has already been 
authenticated at the time an account was set up and therefore a 
lock/unlock can occur very quickly after a request is made. 
However, it is important to note that the account set-up will 
take some time as a consumer has to go through a number of 
steps to authenticate themselves to the CRA.

Q.3. Do you think consumers should be able to see the same 
credit report information that their bank uses when the bank 
makes a credit decision?

A.3. The information provided by a CRA to a lender under a 
permissible purpose is essentially the same as the information 
provided by a CRA to a consumer when the consumer requests his 
or her report. That information, however, is presented in 
different formats that are usable and understandable by each 
party. The information provided to a lender is presented in a 
computerized data feed not readable by a consumer, but the 
underlying information is the same as in a consumer file 
disclosure.
    In addition, there might be differences due to the passage 
of time, or the identifying information provided by the lender 
to the consumer reporting agency to obtain a consumer report 
about the subject individual. The ``same report'' issues were 
studied by the FTC and the subject of a report to Congress in 
2004 and what was true then remains true today. The FTC 
concluded that a same report requirement

        could impose substantial costs on both consumers and 
        industry as a whole. The potential costs to consumers 
        would include the privacy concerns raised by receiving 
        a report that could pertain to another person. Further, 
        if creditors were required to provide reports 
        automatically with an ``adverse action'' notice, this 
        could increase the volume of reports being sent and 
        thus raise identity theft concerns . . . To the extent 
        that a consumer wanted to verify the accuracy of 
        information currently in the file, the same report 
        requirement would be less helpful because the ``same 
        report'' would be somewhat out of date and perhaps 
        incomplete. In contrast, consumer disclosures currently 
        mandated under the FCRA provide all information about a 
        consumer in the CRA's files at the time the consumer 
        requests disclosure. A same report requirement could 
        thus indirectly impose additional costs on consumers 
        attempting to identify and correct information 
        currently contained in their reports. \7\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
     \7\ Report to Congress Under Sections 318 and 319 of the Fair and 
Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003, Dec. 2004, v.

Q.4. Do you think consumers should be able to get a free credit 
score each year along with their credit report since the score 
is the most important piece of information used by lenders in 
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
making credit decisions?

A.4. CDIA applauds its members and others for their market 
solutions which make available to consumers unlimited access to 
credit reports, credit scores, as well as providing additional 
information which improves a consumer's financial literacy. 
These market solutions, for example, push alerts to consumer's 
smart phones when data has changed on their report and also 
warn consumers when there is a risk of identity theft.
    Under the risk-based pricing notice rule, consumers can see 
the score used by the lender for any type of loan. In addition, 
many credit card issuers and other providers of personal 
financial management tools now make scores available for free 
to consumers.
    There is no need to create new score disclosure 
requirements, as the market has clearly responded with a 
variety of free options for consumers.
    Furthermore, it is important to recognize that most credit 
scores used in lending decisions are produced by score modeling 
companies, and not consumer reporting agencies. In addition, 
many different kinds of lenders use different kinds of scores: 
a mortgage lender, for example, might prioritize different 
kinds of information in their custom score than a credit card 
issuer. Mandating that a credit bureau provide free credit 
score only addresses a limited portion of the credit scoring 
marketplace.

Q.5. Do you think the consumer dispute (system) could be 
improved?

A.5. In a study that CDIA commissioned in 2011, an independent 
research organization determined that 95 percent of all 
consumers who participated in the dispute process were 
satisfied with the outcome. \8\ However, we recognize that some 
consumers have had issues with fixing inaccuracies on their 
credit reports. We will work with you and others to address any 
deficiencies in the system.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
     \8\ Turner, Michael A., Ph.D., Robin Varghese, Ph.D., Patrick D. 
Walker, M.A., ``U.S. Consumer Credit Reports: Measuring Accuracy and 
Dispute Impacts'', http://www.perc.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/
DQreport.pdf.

Q.6. Given the potentially catastrophic impact on a consumer 
when there is a material error on their credit report and the 
relatively small cost to the consumer reporting agencies to 
provide better customer support, do you think the consumer 
reporting agencies are doing the most they can do to prevent 
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
and correct errors on credit reports?

A.6. Yes. First, CRAs work very hard to prevent errors from 
appearing on credit reports at all. Aggressive monitoring of 
the roughly 14,000 data furnishers and prompt investigations of 
anomalous reporting help us ensure accuracy. And in fact, the 
national CRAs have been examined annually by the CFPB, and 
those examinations have not surfaced significant substantive or 
systemic accuracy problems with any of the three companies, 
despite the large numbers of complaints in the database. When a 
consumer reports a problem, we work with the lender as quickly 
as we can to resolve it. Often these relate to significant 
disagreements between lender and customer. Other times, if a 
mistake is discovered, we move as rapidly as possible to 
correct it.

Q.7. In light of the massive data breach at Equifax and the 
potential harm of identity theft that millions of Americans now 
face, do you still believe that we should reduce the penalties 
for consumer reporting agencies when they harm consumers?

A.7. CDIA has supported legislation to align the Fair Credit 
Reporting Act with other financial consumer protection laws by 
capping the amount of statutory damages allowed in class action 
lawsuits at one percent of a defendant's net worth or $500,000, 
whichever is less, and eliminating the possibility of punitive 
damages. This would alleviate the uncertainty of the amount of 
liability that businesses face in class action lawsuits and 
provide economic stability for a wide range of impacted 
businesses by reducing the potential for crippling and 
catastrophic class action damage awards.
    Other financial consumer protection statutes, such as the 
Electronic Fund Transfer Act (EFTA), the Fair Debt Collection 
Practices Act (FDCPA), the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA), 
and the Truth in Lending Act (TILA) place similar caps on 
damage amounts in class action litigation. When the FCRA was 
enacted, it only permitted consumers to seek actual damages and 
did not permit statutory or punitive damages in a private right 
of action and, therefore, caps on damage awards were 
unnecessary. As FCRA class action litigation has become more 
prevalent, however, Congress should appropriately revisit the 
liability structure of the FCRA.
    Bringing the FCRA in line with other financial consumer 
protection statutes is especially important in light of the 
current trend of FCRA class action litigation against 
employers. In recent years, FCRA class action lawsuits have 
been filed against businesses from a variety of sectors 
including fast food restaurants, grocers, retailers, 
universities, and transportation companies. These employers are 
particularly victimized by lawsuits where consumer harm is not 
at issue but rather the allegations are highly technical 
violations related to their use of consumer reports for 
employment screening. With the possibility of unlimited damages 
and grave reputational harm, employers and others often settle 
instead of defending their practices in court.

Q.8. In CDIA's opinion, who should bear the financial liability 
for fraud and identity theft that is linked to the Equifax data 
breach?

A.8. In general, the type of fraud that might occur based on 
stolen personal identifiers would be ``new account fraud,'' 
where a criminal would open an account in another person's name 
in order to illegally benefit from the account. In these cases 
consumers are held harmless as financial institutions absorb 
the cost of the fraud and seek redress from there. These cases 
are adjudicated in a number of settings and we believe that 
each case should be settled based on the facts of the 
individual case.
                                ------                                


        RESPONSES TO WRITTEN QUESTIONS OF CHAIRMAN CRAPO
                      FROM MARC ROTENBERG

Q.1. What is the most effective action a consumer can take to 
protect against identity theft if the consumer's information 
has been compromised? Please include a detailed description of 
the differences between credit freezes, credit locks, and fraud 
alerts, including how long each takes to activate and 
deactivate and the relative benefits and drawbacks of each.

A.1. As I stated in my testimony, the central problem is that 
consumers lack control over their credit reports. The only way 
to fix this problem is to enact legislation that allows 
consumers to affirmatively opt-in, i.e., a national credit 
``freeze,'' before their credit reports are disclosed to 
others. The current default settings are backwards. A 
consumer's credit file is automatically available to anyone 
unless the consumer takes costly and burdensome steps to 
prevent access. This increases the risk of identity theft. 
Credit reporting agencies are not incentivized to make it easy 
for consumers to freeze or lock their credit because they 
profit from selling consumer data. Therefore, legislation is 
necessary protect consumers from identity theft. The market 
does not solve this problem. With that said, here are the 
current options that consumers have:
    Credit freezes: A credit freeze is the most effective 
action a consumer can take to protect against identity theft. A 
credit freeze prevents the release of a consumer's credit 
report unless the consumer chooses to affirmatively release the 
report using a PIN number or passphrase, preventing hackers 
from opening new lines of credit in the consumer's name. \1\ 
However, credit freezes are burdensome and costly. \2\ 
Consumers must contact all three credit bureaus and pay a fee 
to each company each time they wish to freeze and unfreeze 
their credit. \3\ Equifax has apparently offered free credit 
freeze services after its breach, \4\ but this offer expires 
January 31, 2018. \5\ And consumers must still contact Experian 
and TransUnion and pay both companies a fee to freeze their 
credit if they wish to protect themselves after the Equifax 
breach. For most consumers, the cost is $5 to $10 per credit 
reporting agency each to freeze or unfreeze their credit 
report, depending on their State's laws. \6\ Currently, only 
four States (Indiana, Maine, North Carolina, and South 
Carolina) mandate free credit freezes and ``thaws,'' while four 
other States mandate free credit freezes but allow companies to 
charge for thaws. \7\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
     \1\ Lisa Weintraub Schifferle, ``Free Credit Freezes From 
Equifax'', Fed. Trade Comm'n., (Sep. 19, 2017), https://
www.consumer.ftc.gov/blog/2017/09/free-credit-freezes-equifax.
     \2\ Rohit Chopra, ``What Should I Do About the Massive Data Breach 
at Equifax?'' Consumer Federation of America (Sep. 8, 2017), http://
www.idtheftinfo.org/index.php?option=com 
content&view=article&id=126&Itemid=10.
     \3\ Schifferle, supra, n. 1.
     \4\ Ron Lieber, ``Equifax Calls for Free Credit Locks. Experian's 
Reply? Nope.'', New York Times, (Oct. 4, 2017), https://
www.nytimes.com/2017/10/04/your-money/equifax-experian-credit-
locks.html
     \5\ Lisa Weintraub Schifferle, ``Free credit freezes from 
Equifax'', Fed. Trade Comm'n., (Sep. 19, 2017), https://
www.consumer.ftc.gov/blog/2017/09/free-credit-freezes-equifax.
     \6\ Id.
     \7\ U.S. PIRG, ``Interactive Map Shows Consumers in 42 States Have 
No Access to Free Credit Freezes'' (Oct. 2, 2017), https://uspirg.org/
news/usp/interactive-map-shows-consumers-42-states-have-no-access-free-
credit-freezes.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Credit locks: Credit locks are relatively new products. 
There is still a lot we don't know about credit lock products, 
and even Andrew Smith admitted in his testimony that he was 
unfamiliar with them. Based on what we do know, they are 
similar to credit freezes, but are not as effective. First, a 
credit lock is only temporary, while a credit freeze is 
permanent. Equifax began offering ``free credit lock products'' 
after the date of the breach, but the Equifax product only 
locks credit for 12 months. \8\ Equifax announced that it will 
begin offering free lifetime credit locking services in 2018, 
but we still do not know all the details about this service. 
\9\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
     \8\ Id.
     \9\ Rob Lieber, ``3 Weeks Later, Equifax Makes a Peace Offering'', 
New York Times, (Sep. 27, 2017) https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/27/
your-money/equifax-credit-freeze-lock-apology.html?_r=O.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    A second reason why a credit freeze is more effective than 
a lock is that a freeze requires a PIN number to ``thaw,'' or 
release, one's credit report, whereas many credit locks can be 
undone by just clicking a button on a website. \10\ Also, while 
some credit lock products are free, TransUnion's product 
requires consumers to agree to receive targeted advertisements 
from third parties. \11\ Many credit lock products also require 
consumers to sign forced arbitration clauses. \12\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
     \10\ Id.
     \11\ Id.
     \12\ Id.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Third, credit freezes are more effective because they are 
established by State law. \13\ Credit reporting agencies began 
offering credit freezes in the early 2000s after pressure from 
State lawmakers and consumer advocates, and freezes are subject 
to State regulation. \14\ Credit locks, on the other hand, have 
only popped up recently, and these products are not subject to 
State regulation. \15\ Because credit freezes are covered by 
State law, consumers are protected from any financial liability 
if their credit account is fraudulently accessed. \16\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
     \13\ Octavio Blanco, ``The Credit Bureaus Are Pushing Consumers To 
Lock Their Credit Instead of Freeze It, But There Are Reasons To Be 
Wary'', Consumer Reports, (Sep. 28, 2017), https://
www.consumerreports.org/credit-bureaus/why-credit-freeze-is-better-
than-credit-lock/.
     \14\ Lieber, supra, n. 4; ``Public Hearing on Security Freeze'', 
New York Senate Standing Committee on Consumer Protection and the 
Assembly Standing Committee on Consumer Affairs and Protection (Nov. 
21, 2015) (written testimony of the Electronic Privacy Information 
Center), https://epic.org/privacy/idtheft/nystate11.21.05.html.
     \15\ Lieber, supra, n. 4.
     \16\ Blanco, supra, n. 13.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Credit bureaus have been pushing consumers into credit lock 
products after the Equifax breach, citing their convenience: 
activating and lifting a credit freeze typically takes 24 to 48 
hours. \17\ However, credit locks still require a consumer to 
purchase the service from all three credit bureaus in order to 
be effective, and Equifax's credit lock also takes 24 to 48 
hours to be processed. \18\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
     \17\ Id.
     \18\ Id.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Fraud alerts: A fraud alert is the least protective option, 
though it should still be freely available to all consumers. 
Fraud alerts won't freeze the consumer's credit, but they will 
tell anyone who runs the consumer's credit to notify the 
consumer before opening a new account. \19\ Most fraud alerts 
are free but they end after 90 days, however there are also 
``extended'' 7-year fraud alerts, which require filing an 
identity theft report. \20\ Fraud alerts are not the most 
effective tool to prevent identity theft; because they do not 
prevent a consumer's credit report from being pulled, a 
criminal may still be able to improperly obtain credit in a 
consumer's name. On the other hand, a fraud alert well help a 
consumer identify suspicious activity.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
     \19\ EPIC, ``Identity Theft and Domestic Abuse'', https://
epic.org/privacy/dv/identity_theft.html.
     \20\ Id.

Q.2. Many States have laws requiring credit bureaus to provide 
credit freezes. Can you describe what these laws generally 
require and discuss whether it is appropriate for Congress to 
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
create a Federal standard?

A.2. State credit freeze laws give consumers the right to place 
a security freeze on their credit reports. These laws set the 
fees that credit bureaus are permitted to charge consumers to 
place and to lift freezes on their credit reports. Generally, 
there is no charge for identity theft victims and a fee for all 
others. The fee is typically $10 but is less in some States. 
Some States also mandate free credit freezes for protected 
categories of consumers, such as: spouses of identity theft 
victims, minors, consumers over 65 years of age, active duty 
military members, and victims of domestic violence. \21\ Some 
States (Maine, South Carolina, Indiana, and North Carolina) 
have prohibited fees to both place and remove freezes for all 
of their citizens. \22\ State laws also specify the length of 
the freeze: it can either be permanent (until lifted by the 
consumer) or it can expire after a certain period of time. In 
three States, a freeze will automatically expire after 7 years. 
\23\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
     \21\ ConsumersUnion, ``Consumers Union's Guide to Security Freeze 
Protection'', http://consumersunion.org/research/consumers-unions-
guide-to-security-freeze-protection-2/.
     \22\ Id.
     \23\ Id.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Congress should enact Federal baseline legislation that 
would make free credit freezes the default for all consumers. 
Fees are more expensive than they appear. In order to be 
effective, a consumer must place a freeze on her credit report 
at all three bureaus: Equifax, TransUnion, and Experian. This 
means that it typically costs consumers $30 to freeze their 
credit and another $30 to remove the freeze later. A Federal 
standard prohibiting the credit bureaus from charging consumers 
for credit ``freezes'' and ``thaws'' would give consumers 
greater control over their personal financial information and 
prevent companies such as Equifax from profiting from their own 
malfeasance. Additionally, any Federal standard should not 
preempt State laws. States have long been the innovators for 
consumer protection and many of the best Federal laws are 
derived from earlier State experiments. California passed the 
first data breach notification law in the U.S. in 2002, \24\ 
and now 47 more States, the District of Columbia, Guam, Puerto 
Rico, and the Virgin Islands have all enacted similar 
legislation. \25\ Federal preemption could have the perverse 
effect of removing stronger State protections and then expose 
consumers to higher levels of data breach and identity theft.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
     \24\ California S.B. 1386, http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/O1-02/
bilUsen/sb_1351-1400/sb_1386_ bill_20020926_chaptered.pdf.
     \25\ National Conference of State Legislatures, ``Security Breach 
Notification Laws'' (Apr. 12, 2017), http://www.ncsl.org/research/
telecommunications-and-information-technology/security-breach-
notification-laws.aspx.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                ------                                


        RESPONSES TO WRITTEN QUESTIONS OF SENATOR BROWN
                      FROM MARC ROTENBERG

Q.1. In his testimony, Andrew Smith implied that if Americans 
had the right to make consumer reporting agencies delete their 
data, consumers would use this right to ``selectively delete'' 
negative but accurate information. Do you believe this is a 
significant risk? To the extent that it is a risk, are there 
ways in which the law could mitigate the risk?

A.1. The right of individuals to limit access to true private 
facts is well established in U.S. law. This is done in the 
financial services sector to give individuals, even those who 
have suffered bankruptcy, the chance to start over. \1\ This is 
done in the criminal justice system to ensure that potentially 
stigmatizing information does not create obstacles to 
employment. \2\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
     \1\ The FCRA requires bankruptcies to be removed from credit 
reports after 10 years. 15 U.S.C. 1681c.
     \2\ See, e.g., EPIC, ``Expungement'', https://epic.org/privacy/
expungement/ (Forty-five States and the District of Columbia provide 
for expungement for some ex-offenders or other similar relief.); G.D. 
v. Kenny, 15 A. 3d 300,205 NJ 275, https://epic.org/amicus/
gd_v_kenny.html; See also, National Employment Law Center, ``Ban the 
Box: U.S. Cities, Counties, and States Adopt Fair Hiring Practices'', 
(Aug. 1, 2017), http://www.nelp.org/publication/ban-the-box-fair-
chance-hiring-state-and-local-guide/.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Data brokers do not have a ``right'' to obtain private 
facts about American consumers. But consumers should certainly 
have a right to know what information about them is collected 
and sold by private businesses. At present, the data broker 
industry is entirely upside down, recognizing little privacy 
for consumers, but claiming great secrecy for itself.
    Andrew Smith's statements made clear that credit bureaus 
are concerned about not having every piece of financial 
information about consumers, yet consumers do not have access 
to all the data the credit bureaus have collected about them. 
That is entirely backwards. Even more worrisome is that much of 
the information that data brokers sell about consumers is 
itself not accurate. That is where the real risk arises because 
consumers are denied loans, job, and other opportunities 
because of errors in credit reports provided by credit 
reporting agencies.
    To mitigate that risk, reform of the credit reporting 
industry would begin by imposing an accuracy requirement on 
data brokers.

Q.2. In his testimony, Andrew Smith stated that consumers have 
access to ``all of the information on file about them with 
consumer reporting agencies.'' Is that true? Please provide a 
list of all types of data collected by the three national 
consumer reporting agencies and their affiliates that is not 
contained in the free credit report that consumers can obtain 
under FCRA. How do the consumer reporting agencies collect this 
data? Is there a risk that these data may be inaccurate or 
vulnerable to a cybersecurity breach?

A.2. Andrew Smith's statement that consumers have access to 
``all of the information on file about them with consumer 
reporting agencies'' is false because the credit report that 
consumers can obtain under FCRA does not contain all of the 
information about the consumer in possession of the credit 
reporting agency. The Work Number, an Equifax subsidiary, has a 
database of 190 million employment and salary records covering 
more than one-third of U.S. adults. \3\ The company collects 
data from human resources departments that can include weekly 
paystub information, unemployment claims, and information about 
insurance and health care providers. \4\ This information is 
not included in the credit reports consumers obtain under the 
FCRA.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
     \3\ Bob Sullivan, ``Archive: Exclusive: Your Employer May Share 
Your Salary, and Equifax Might Sell That Data'', (March 10, 2016), 
https://bobsullivan.net/archive/archive-exclusive-your-employer-may-
share-your-salary-and-equifax-might-sell-that-data/.
     \4\ Id.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Perhaps the most crucial type of data missing from free 
credit reports that consumers can obtain under FCRA is credit 
scores which is used to determine credit ratings. While FCRA 
gives consumers the right to get their credit score from the 
national credit reporting companies, companies charge for the 
scores. \5\ Earlier this year the consumer reporting agencies 
entered a consent agreement with the CFPB for advertising 
credit scores to consumers as free or costing one dollar and 
then charging for credit monitoring services. \6\ FICO has 
disclosed the approximate weight of the categories but the 
relative importance of the categories is not the same for all 
consumers, particularly for those who have not been using 
credit long. \7\ It currently costs a consumer $59.85 for a 
report from FICO that contains the credit scores from all three 
bureaus and a list of the ``top factors'' that affect their 
personal FICO scores. \8\ FICO charges a $29.95 monthly 
subscription fee for a product that allows consumers to track 
changes in their credit scores. \9\ There are ways for 
consumers to access their credit scores for free, such as 
CreditKarma, but these services are not cost-free; they make 
their money by collecting still more consumer data and 
promoting loans and credit cards to consumers based on their 
financial information. \10\ FICO scores are used by 90 percent 
of top lenders. \11\ Consumers should not have to choose 
between costly services and invasive profiling to obtain their 
scores.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
     \5\ FTC, ``Credit Scores'', https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/
0152-credit-scores.
     \6\ Bob Sullivan, ``Equifax, Trans Union Will Pay Fines, Refunds 
To Settle Charges They Deceptively Marketed Free Credit Scores and 
Credit Reports'', (Jan. 3, 2017), https://bobsullivan.net/gotchas/
equifax-trans-union-will-pay-fines-refunds-to-settle-charges-it-
deceptively-marketed-free-credit-scores-and-credit-reports/.
     \7\ myFICO, ``What's in My FICO Scores'', http://www.myfico.com/
credit-education/whats-in-your-credit-score/.
     \8\ my FICO, https://www1.myfico.com/products/onetimereports.
     \9\ my FICO, https://www1.myfico.com/products/fico-credit-
monitoring.
     \10\ CreditKarma, ``About Us'', https://www.creditkarma.com/about.
     \11\ myFICO, ``What Is a FICO Score?'', http://www.myfico.com/
credit-education/credit-report-credit-score-articles/.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Still, it is not possible for us to know the full extent of 
the data collected by the consumer reporting agencies, because 
the law only requires them to disclose credit reports, not the 
complete dossiers they keep on consumers. A more comprehensive 
data protection approach would allow consumers to know what 
companies know about them.
    Regarding data accuracy, much of the consumer data 
maintained by the credit reporting agencies is inaccurate. In 
2016, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau received more 
complaints about credit reports than about any other topic: 
more than 43,000, or about 23 percent of the total 186,000 
complaints. \12\ The majority of the complaints about credit 
reports--about 74 percent--concerned reports of incorrect 
information. \13\ There is a high rate of errors in credit 
reports that consumers have a right to access under the FCRA. 
It would stand to reason that errors are more prevalent in data 
that consumers do not have a legal right to access or correct. 
An FTC study found that of those consumers with disputed 
information on their account, 50 percent planned to abandon 
their dispute. \14\ This suggests that the credit bureaus make 
it too difficult for consumers to correct misinformation on 
their credit reports, causing many consumers to give up. \15\ 
Greater transparency in the industry is needed to know the 
extent of these risks.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
     \12\ Maria Lamagna, ``Consumers' No. 1 Complaint: Errors on Their 
Credit Reports'', MarketWatch (Jan. 11, 2017), https://
www.marketwatch.com/story/consumers-no-1-complaint-errors-on-their-
credit-reports-2017-01-10.
     \13\ Id.
     \14\ FTC, ``Report to Congress Under Section 319 of the Fair and 
Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003'', (Jan. 2015), https://
www.ftc.gov/system/files/documents/reports/section-319-fair-accurate-
credit-transactions-act-2003-sixth-interim-final-report-federal-trade/
150121factareport.pdf.
     \15\ Bob Sullivan, ``Frustrated by Red Tape When Fighting Credit 
Report Errors, Many Consumers Just Give Up, FTC Study Suggests'' (Jan. 
26, 2015),https://bobsullivan.net/gotchas/frustrated-by-red-tape-when-
fighting-credit-report-errors-many-consumers-just-give-up-ftc-study-
suggests/.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Regarding the risk of cyberattacks and data breach, the 
Equifax breach is the latest and most egregious data breach by 
a credit reporting agency, but the industry has a history of 
poor cybersecurity practices. This September, Experian failed 
to protect credit freeze pins. \16\ Two years ago Experian 
exposed the records of 15 million T-Mobile customers, which 
included names, addresses, SSNs, dates of birth, identification 
numbers (passport, DL, military ID). \17\ Last year identity 
thieves stole tax and salary data from more than 431,000 people 
from Equifax. \18\ Equifax improperly disclosed credit reports 
due to ``technical error'' in a separate incident. \19\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
     \16\ Brian Krebs, ``Experian Site Can Give Anyone Your Credit 
Freeze PIN'', Krebs on Security (Sept. 21, 2017), https://
krebsonsecurity.com/2017/09/experian-site-can-give-anyone-your-credit-
freeze-pin/.
     \17\ Brian Krebs, ``Experian Breach Affects 15 Million 
Consumers'', Krebs on Security (Oct. 2, 2015), https://
krebsonsecurity.com/2015/10/experian-breach-affects-15-million-
consumers/; U.S. PIRG, ``Letter to CFPB and FTC on Experian/T-Mobile 
Data Breach'' (Oct. 8, 2015), https://uspirg.org/resources/usp/letter-
cfpb-ftc-experiant-mobile-data-breach.
     \18\ Brian Krebs, ``Crooks Grab W-2s From Credit Bureau Equifax'', 
Krebs on Security (May 6, 2016), http://krebsonsecurity.com/2016/05/
crooks-grab-w-2s-from-credit-bureau-equifax/.
     \19\ ``Equifax Discloses Data Breach Due to Technical Error During 
Software Change'' (Apr. 9, 2015), https://www.databreaches.net/equifax-
discloses-data-breach-due-to-technical-error-during-software-change/.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    TransUnion has suffered several breaches through 
compromised client logins. \20\ These are only a few examples 
of the data breach problem rampant at consumer reporting 
agencies. \21\ Any information held by these agencies is 
vulnerable to security breaches.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
     \20\ Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, ``TransUnion Data Breaches'', 
https://www.privacyrights.org/data-breaches?title=transunion.
     \21\ See, e.g., Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, ``Experian Data 
Breaches'', https://www.privacyrights.org/data-breaches?title=experian; 
DataBreaches.Net, ``Equifax Mistakenly Sends Woman 300 Other People's 
Credit Reports'', (Mar. 20, 2015) https://www.databreaches.net/equifax-
mistakenly-sends-woman-300-other-peoples-credit-reports/; Jose 
Pagliery, ``Your Personal Information Just Isn't Safe'', CNN (July 28, 
2014), http://money.cnn.com/2014/07/25/technology/security/target-
experian/index.html (reporting an incident where an individual in 
Vietnam purchased reports through subsidiary account and sold 
consumers' information to criminals abroad); Graham Cluley, ``Equifax 
and Transunion Say Hackers Stole Celebrity Credit Reports'', Naked 
Security (Mar. 12, 2013), https://nakedsecurity.sophos.com/2013/03/12/
equifax-and-transunion-say-hackers-stole-celebrity-credit-reports/.

Q.3. In his testimony, Andrew Smith counseled against requiring 
disclosure related to consumer reporting agencies' use of 
algorithms, calling it a ``question of probabilities and 
statistics.'' Is it possible that consumer reporting agencies 
have used these ``probabilities and statistics'' to 
discriminate on the basis of race, sex, sexual orientation, 
gender identity, or otherwise (e.g., by using certain/actors as 
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
a proxy for race)?

A.3. Evidence strongly suggests that consumer scoring 
mechanisms have widespread discriminatory impacts. \22\ 
Algorithms reflect and reinforce the historical discrimination 
that is present in the data sets they rely on, as well as the 
human biases of the individuals who develop them. \23\ For 
example, algorithms used in the criminal justice system to 
predict recidivism rates are based on data sets that are 
heavily skewed against black defendants. \24\ A 2016 
investigation by ProPublica found that one particular scoring 
system labeled black defendants as future criminals at almost 
twice the rate of white defendants, and yet these scores were 
unreliable in actually predicting future crime. \25\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
     \22\ See, Frank Pasquale, The Black Box Society 8 (2015); Danielle 
Keats Citron and Frank Pasquale, ``The Scored Society: Due Process/or 
Automated Predictions'', 89 Wash. L. Rev. 1 (2014).
     \23\ Cathy O'Neil, Weapons of Math Destruction (2016).
     \24\ EPIC, ``Algorithms in the Criminal Justice System'', https://
epic.org/algorithmic-transparency/crim-justice/.
     \25\ Julia Angwin, Jeff Larson, Surya Mattu, and Lauren Kirchner, 
``Machine Bias'', ProPublica, (May 23, 2016), https://
www.propublica.org/article/machine-bias-risk-assessments-in-criminal-
sentencing.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Algorithms have also allowed advertisers to engage in 
racial targeting. Facebook's algorithms, for example, allowed 
marketers for the film ``Straight Outta Compton'' to show 
different advertisements to users based on their ``racial 
affinity''. \26\ And there is evidence that Russian 
interference in the 2016 election involved targeting specific 
racial groups with racially charged political ads on Facebook. 
\27\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
     \26\ Alex Hem, ``Facebook's `Ethnic Affinity' Advertising Sparks 
Concerns of Racial Profiling'', The Guardian (Mar. 22, 2016), https://
www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/mar/22/facebooks-ethnic-affinity-
advertising-concerns-racial-profiling.
     \27\ Adam Entous, Craig Timberg, and Elizabeth Dwoskin, ``Russian 
Operatives Used Facebook Ads To Exploit America's Racial and Religious 
Divisions'', Washington Post, (Sep. 25, 2017), https://
www.washingtonpost.com/business/technology/russian-operatives-used-
facebook-ads-to-exploit-divisions-over-black-political-activism-and-
muslims/2017/09/25/4a011242-a21b-11e7-adel-
76d06ld56efa_story.html?utm_term=.31a7889a3ca0.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Algorithms in the consumer lending context may also violate 
the law. \28\ The Equal Credit Opportunity Act prohibits 
lenders from basing credit decisions on factors that have a 
discriminatory impact on protected groups and are unrelated to 
creditworthiness. \29\ In the run-up to the housing crisis, 
mortgage lenders engaged in widespread targeting of minority 
borrowers for subprime loans. \30\ In subsequent lawsuits, Home 
Mortgage Disclosure Act data revealed that brokers were basing 
lending decisions on variables that, although facially race-
neutral, had significant discriminatory impacts on equally 
creditworthy minority borrowers. \31\ After the housing bubble 
burst, this discrimination had catastrophic impacts on minority 
communities. \32\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
     \28\ Citron and Pasquale, supra, n. 47.
     \29\ 15 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.
     \30\ Consumer Fin. Prot. Bureau, ``CFPB Director Richard Cordray's 
Prepared Lecture on Economic Rights as Civil Rights at Michigan State 
University'', (Oct. 10, 2014), https://www.consumerfinance.gov/about-
us/newsroom/cfpb-director-richard-cordrays-prepared-lecture-on-
economic-rights-as-civil-rights-at-michigan-state-university/.
     \31\ See, e.g., Miller v. Countrywide Bank, N.A., 571 F. Supp. 2d 
251 (D. Mass 2008); Ramirez v. GreenPoint Mortg. Funding, Inc., 633 F. 
Supp. 2d 922 (N.D. Cal. 2008).
     \32\ CFPB, supra, n. 55.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    If credit reporting agencies are permitted to score 
consumers using secret, proprietary algorithms, then it is 
impossible to know whether these algorithms violate the law. 
Empirical evidence demonstrates that credit scores 
statistically disadvantage protected groups. \33\ Numerous 
studies have demonstrated that black and Latino communities 
have lower credit scores as a group than whites. \34\ Credit 
scores by their very nature ``bake in and perpetuate past 
discrimination''; they judge consumers based on their histories 
and consequently limit or expand their future ability to obtain 
wealth-building assets such as a home, a small business loan, 
or even a job. \35\ Evidence strongly links the current 
disparity in assets between white and minority communities to 
the disparity in credit scores. \36\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
     \33\ Citron and Pasquale, supra, n. 47.
     \34\ See, e.g., Consumer Fin. Prot. Bureau, ``Analysis of 
Differences Between Consumer- and Creditor-Purchased Credit Scores'', 
(Sept. 18, 2012), http://files.consumerfinance.gov/f/
201209_Analysis_Differences_Consumer_Credit.pdf.
     \35\ ``Past Imperfect: How Credit Scores and Other Analytics `Bake 
In' and Perpetuate Past Discrimination'', National Consumer Law Center, 
(May 2016), https://www.nclc.org/images/pdf/credit_discrimination/
Past_Imperfect050616.pdf.
     \36\ Id.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Yet current law does not allow regulators or the courts to 
scrutinize these scores to determine whether they violate ECOA. 
\37\ Although consumers have the right to request their credit 
scores, they do not have the right to know how this score is 
determined. ECOA's Regulation B requires lenders to state the 
``specific reasons'' for an adverse lending decision--such as a 
low credit score--but it does not require the credit reporting 
agencies to disclose how that credit score was calculated. \38\ 
This means that a credit score might include factors that 
violate ECOA. And because the credit reporting agencies do not 
directly interact with consumers, consumers have been unable to 
maintain lawsuits against the CRAs for violating ECOA. \39\ 
Moreover, using credit scores in the employment context may 
violate Title VII because there is no evidence to suggest that 
credit history is a valid predictor of job performance. \40\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
     \37\ Citron and Pasquale, supra, n. 47.
     \38\ 12 CFR Part 1002; Citron and Pasquale, supra, n. 47.
     \39\ ECOA only permits borrowers to maintain actions against the 
entities making the lending decisions. See, e.g., Arikat v. JPMorgan 
Chase & Co., 430 F. Supp. 2d 1013 (N.D. Cal. 2006). HMDA data merely 
reports the credit score of the borrower, allowing plaintiffs to 
determine only whether minority borrowers with equal credit scores 
received disparate treatment. See, e.g., Miller v. Countrywide, 571 F. 
Supp. 2d at 254.
     \40\ National Consumer Law Center, supra, n. 60.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    ``Algorithmic transparency'' is key to corporate 
accountability in the data industry. \41\ Without legislation 
requiring companies to disclose their scoring methods, we have 
no way of knowing whether unlawful discrimination is built into 
these algorithms that determine opportunities for credit, 
employment, housing, and more.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
     \41\ EPIC, ``Algorithmic Transparency'', https://epic.org/
algorithmic-transparency/.

Q.4. The Privacy Act of 1974 imposes various restrictions on 
Federal agencies' collection, maintenance, use, and 
dissemination of information about individuals. Do these 
restrictions generally protect individuals' data more than the 
restrictions imposed on private enterprises? If so, does it 
make sense that consumers enjoy these protections against the 
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Federal Government but not against private organizations?

A.4. As originally conceived, the Privacy Act of 1974 would 
have provided privacy protections for databases in the both the 
public sector and the private sector. However, negotiations 
with the White House led to the removal of provisions to cover 
the private sector. \42\ As a consequence, individuals in 
United States generally enjoy stronger privacy protections on 
data collected by the Federal Government than the private 
sector, though it is worth noting that the Fair Credit 
Reporting Act of 1970 preceded the Privacy Act and was viewed 
at the time as the first modern privacy law, i.e., a response 
to the growing automation of personal data, in the United 
States.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
     \42\ EPIC, ``The Privacy Act of 1974, https://epic.org/privacy/
1974act/; Robert Ellis Smith, ``Gerald Ford: Privacy's Godfather'', 
Forbes (Jan. 5, 2017), https://www.forbes.com/2007/01/04/privacy-
protection-ford-oped-cxresO105privacy.html
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    The Privacy Act is based on the Code of Fair Information 
Practices. \43\ The FIPs serve as the starting point for modern 
privacy law. The FIPs assign rights and responsibilities in the 
collection and use of personal data. \44\ Since the data is 
transferred from the individual to the organization, the 
responsibilities are necessarily assigned to the organization, 
such as the business or Government agency, and the rights are 
given to the individual, as consumer or citizen.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
     \43\ ``The Code of Fair Information Practices'', EPIC, https://
epic.org/privacy/consumer/code_fair_info.html.
     \44\ Marc Rotenberg, ``Fair Information Practices and the 
Architecture of Privacy'', 2001 Stan. Tech. L. Rev. 1.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    The FIPs appear in many privacy laws in the United States, 
such as the Privacy Act of 1974. The FIPS are also found in 
privacy laws and frameworks, such as the Organization for 
Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Privacy Guidelines 
\45\ and the European Commission's Data Protection Regulation. 
\46\ Paradoxically, this common approach to privacy protection 
helps enable international data transfer.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
     \45\ ``OECD Guidelines on the Protection of Privacy and Trans 
border Flows of Personal Data'', available at http://www.oecd.org/
document/18/0,3343,en--2649_34255_1815186_1_1_1_
1,00.html.
     \46\ Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and the 
Council on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing 
of personal data and the free movement of such data (General Data 
Protection Regulation), E.C. COM (2012) final, (Jan. 25, 2012), 
available at http://ex.europa/eu/justice/data-protection/document/
review2012/com_2012_11_en.pdf.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    The problem today in the U.S. is that technology and 
business practices have outpaced our legal protection. That is 
why we are experiencing rocketing levels of data breach, 
identity theft, and financial fraud. That is also why our 
trading partners are increasingly apprehensive about sending 
the personal data of their citizens to the United States.
    As the Equifax breach demonstrated, there is an urgent need 
to update U.S. privacy laws.

Q.5. Would you recommend extending any of the principles 
embodied in the Privacy Act of 1974, such as the ``no 
disclosure without consent'' rule, to private organizations?

A.5. We would recommend extending all of the principles in the 
Privacy Act to the private sector. The reasons are made clear 
by the Findings section of the Act. As Congress explained:

  1.  the privacy of an individual is directly affected by the 
        collection, maintenance, use, and dissemination of 
        personal information by Federal agencies;

  2.  the increasing use of computers and sophisticated 
        information technology, while essential to the 
        efficient operations of the Government, has greatly 
        magnified the harm to individual privacy that can occur 
        from any collection, maintenance, use, or dissemination 
        of personal information;

  3.  the opportunities for an individual to secure employment, 
        insurance, and credit, and his right to due process, 
        and other legal protections are endangered by the 
        misuse of certain information systems;

  4.  the right to privacy is a personal and fundamental right 
        protected by the Constitution of the United States; and

  5.  in order to protect the privacy of individuals identified 
        in information systems maintained by Federal agencies, 
        it is necessary and proper for the Congress to regulate 
        the collection, maintenance, use, and dissemination of 
        information by such agencies. \47\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
     \47\ Privacy Act of 1974, 93 P.L. 579; 88 Stat. 1896.

    The purposes of the Privacy Act, as set out by Congress in 
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
1974, apply equally to private sector record systems:

  b.  The purpose of this Act * * * is to provide certain 
        safeguards for an individual against an invasion of 
        personal privacy by requiring Federal agencies, except 
        as otherwise provided by law, to--

  1.  permit an individual to determine what records pertaining 
        to him are collected, maintained, used, or disseminated 
        by such agencies;

  2.  permit an individual to prevent records pertaining to him 
        obtained by such agencies for a particular purpose from 
        being used or made available for another purpose 
        without his consent;

  3.  permit an individual to gain access to information 
        pertaining to him in Federal agency records, to have a 
        copy made of all or any portion thereof, and to correct 
        or amend such records;

  4.  collect, maintain, use, or disseminate any record of 
        identifiable personal information in a manner that 
        assures that such action is for a necessary and lawful 
        purpose, that the information is current and accurate 
        for its intended use, and that adequate safeguards are 
        provided to prevent misuse of such information;

  5.  permit exemptions from the requirements with respect to 
        records provided in this Act * * * and

  6.  be subject to civil suit for any damages which occur as a 
        result of willful or intentional action which violates 
        any individual's rights under this Act * * *. \48\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
     \48\ Id.

    There are also innovative approaches to privacy protection 
that should be adopted. EPIC recently made several 
recommendations to the Commission on Evidence-based 
Policymaking, including the adoption of privacy-enhancing 
techniques (PETs) that minimize or eliminate Personally 
Identifiable Information, and the use of schemes that leave 
data with the custodial agencies instead of a central 
repository. \49\ In brief, here are four key practices that 
should apply to the public and private sectors.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
     \49\ Commission on Evidence-based Policymaking: Comments of the 
Electronic Privacy Information Center (Nov. 14, 2016), https://
epic.org/apa/comments/EPIC-CEP-RFC.pdf.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    First, when data is collected by Federal agencies, it is 
generally for a specific purpose and its use is limited to that 
purpose. When data is collected by private entities, however, 
it is often sold to third-parties and used by many entities for 
a multitude of purposes that differ vastly from the original 
purpose for which it was collected. For example, information 
originally collected by a student loan servicer will then 
appear on a person's credit report, and it might then be sold 
to employment agencies and can eventually serve as the basis to 
deny that person a job. \50\ Regulations should limit the use 
of data in the private sector to only the purpose for which it 
was originally collected. Purpose specification and use 
limitation should apply in both the public and private sector.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
     \50\ Cathy O'Neil, Weapons of Math Destruction (2016).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Second, private entities should be required to adopt 
privacy-enhancing techniques such as data minimization to limit 
the amount of personal data that the entity collects and the 
length of time that the entity retains that data. Data should 
also be anonymized or de-identified whenever possible. These 
techniques help reduce the damage when data breaches occur.
    Third, the Privacy Act prohibits the existence of secret 
Government databases and requires Government agencies to show 
an individual any records kept on him or her (with broad 
exceptions for law enforcement activities). \51\ However, 
credit reporting agencies rely on secret algorithms that make 
it impossible for consumers to know what information is 
collected about them and how it is used. In accordance with the 
FIPs, consumers should have access to all the data that is 
collected about them and should be entitled to know how that 
data is--used, including the factors that determine a credit 
scores.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
     \51\ EPIC, ``The Privacy Act'', https://epic.org/privacy/1974act/.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Fourth, one of the most important aspects of the Privacy 
Act is that it restricts the sharing of information between 
Government agencies. It does this by limiting ``matching 
programs,'' which it defines as the computerized comparison of 
databases in order to determine the status, rights, or benefits 
of the individuals within those systems of records. In the 
private sector, however, personal data is freely transferred 
between entities without any regard to individual privacy. In 
accordance with our recommendation for a national default 
credit freeze, data brokers should not be permitted to sell or 
disclose data to third parties without explicit opt-in consent 
by the consumer.
    The Fair Information Practices make equal sense in the 
private sector as in the public sector. Data breaches have 
impacted Government and private databases alike, and the more 
personally identifiable information that exists across numerous 
databases, the easier it is for hackers to commit identity 
theft and financial fraud.
    Finally, of great concern is the use of an identifier by 
the private sector that was originally intended only for the 
recording of pension contributions. As I emphasized in my 
testimony, the Social Security number was never intended be 
used as an all-purpose identifier or an authenticator. The 
widespread use of the Social Security number in the private 
sector has undoubtedly contributed to the unprecedented levels 
of identity theft. That is why we recommend prohibiting the use 
of the Social Security number in the private sector without 
explicit legal authorization.
                                ------                                


        RESPONSES TO WRITTEN QUESTIONS OF SENATOR BROWN
                      FROM CHRIS JAIKARAN

Q.1. Do consumer reporting agencies or their affiliates collect 
any information that is not necessarily contained in consumers' 
FCRA-guaranteed free credit reports? If so, what types of 
information do they collect? Is there a risk that these data 
may be inaccurate or vulnerable to a cybersecurity breach?

A.1. CRS was not able to identify in publicly available sources 
a complete account of the furnishers of information to credit 
reporting agencies, or the type of information that is 
furnished. CRS was able to identify elements of a credit 
report, and potential sources of the information contained in 
those reports.
    According to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, 
information contained in a credit report includes the following 
information: \1\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
     \1\ The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, ``What Is a Credit 
Report'', webpage, June 8, 2017, at https://www.consumerfinance.gov/
ask-cfpb/what-is-a-credit-report-en-309/.

    Personally identifiable information such as a 
        person's name, names they have used in the past, 
        current and former addresses, birth date, Social 
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        Security number and telephone numbers;

    Credit history information such as current and 
        former credit accounts and types (e.g., mortgages, 
        credit cards, etc.), credit limits, account balances, 
        payment histories, dates accounts were opened and 
        closed, and information on the creditor;

    Collections information such as an account that 
        currently is, or was, in a collections process;

    Public records information such as liens, 
        foreclosures, bankruptcies, civil suits, or judgments 
        against a consumer; and

    Credit reports may also contain a list of companies 
        that have sought inquires or accessed a credit report.

    According to the Federal Reserve, however, the above data 
is only contained in the report, and the credit reporting 
company may have additional data on a consumer. The credit 
reporting agencies receive credit information on consumers from 
banks, credit unions, retailers, utility companies (e.g., oil, 
gas, electricity, and water), medical companies and collections 
agencies. Some of the information reported to credit reporting 
agencies may include non-credit-related information. The 
information reported to credit reporting agencies by the 
furnishers may be incomplete. Credit reporting agencies may 
also collect non-credit-related information from public records 
or third parties who aggregate public record information. This 
information assists in distinguishing a particular consumer 
from another. For example, non-credit-related information 
collected by the credit reporting agencies may include driver's 
license numbers. Equifax reported that driver's license numbers 
were among the accessed information in their data breach. \2\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
     \2\ Equifax, ``Equifax Announces Cybersecurity Incident Involving 
Consumer Information'', webpage, September 7, 2017, at https://
www.equifaxsecurity2017.com/2017/09/07/equifax-announces-cybersecurity-
incident-involving-consumer-information/.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    The data collected by these entities does come with a risk 
that the data is inaccurate as the data is submitted to the 
credit reporting agencies by the furnishers and may be 
inaccurate upon submission or be made out of date soon after 
submission. \3\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
     \3\ The Federal Reserve, ``An Overview of Consumer Data and Credit 
Reporting'', The Federal Reserve Bulletin, February 2003, pp 47-73.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    In addition to providing credit reports to consumers and 
credit information to financial institutions, credit reporting 
agencies may use additional, identifying information about 
consumers to develop authentication services for companies 
seeking to verify that a consumer is who they purport to be. 
This form of authentication, also known as identity-proofing or 
knowledge-based authentication, seeks to verify a consumer 
through that consumer answering questions only the consumer 
would have a high likelihood of knowing. Such information may 
include date of birth, Social Security number, address where 
the consumer has resided, and driver's license number.
    Because the credit reporting agencies hold this data 
digitally, the data is at risk of a cybersecurity breach. The 
type and extent of that risk, and the ways the credit reporting 
agencies may mitigate cybersecurity risks they face is 
difficult to assess without fully understanding the credit 
reporting agencies' system architecture and data model. The 
system architecture will inform the entity of how they have 
built their systems, what versions of hardware and software run 
on their networks, and how their information technology 
connects. The data model will inform the entity of what data 
they have, how they acquire that data, what data they generate, 
and where their data flows. Understanding those would help 
develop a data-centric threat model to assess risks, develop 
ways to address potential attacks against that data, and defend 
against them.

Q.2. What kinds of technological solutions to the GDPR's 
compliance requirements exist? More generally, how can 
companies leverage technology to comply with privacy 
regulations and protect consumers' personal information?

A.2. The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) was approved 
by the European Union (EU) Parliament on April 14, 2016, and 
will go into enforceable effect on May 25, 2018. The GDPR 
establishes consumer rights to data and regulations for how 
data shall be treated by companies. The GDPR establishes the 
following requirements for data on entities using and 
processing data on EU citizens: \4\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
     \4\ The European Union, ``GDPR Portal'', website, http://
www.eugdpr.org/eugdpr.org.html.

    The regulation applies to data on EU citizens, 
        regardless of whether the entity processing that data 
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        is in the EU or not;

    Penalties for breaching the terms of the GDPR can 
        be up to 4 percent of the company's annual profit, or 
        20 million euros, whichever is greater;

    Consumers must receive clear, plain language 
        consent agreements, and must be able to withdraw their 
        consent in a way that is as easy for them to give it; 
        and

    Entities collecting and processing data on EU 
        citizens must consider privacy of that data by design, 
        rather than adding privacy protection onto built 
        systems.

    EU citizens (who the GDPR calls ``data subjects'') also 
have additional rights to their data, which include the 
following: \5\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
     \5\ Ibid.

    Data subjects must be informed if their data is 
        breached in a manner that is likely to result in a risk 
        that their rights and freedoms may be infringed within 
        72 hours of the entity first becoming aware of the 
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        breach;

    Data subjects have the right to access any data 
        that an entity has collected or created on them, free 
        of charge;

    Data subjects have a right to have data about them, 
        that is hosted by an entity, be deleted, otherwise 
        known as the ``Right to be Forgotten''; and

    Data subjects have a right to extract their data 
        from one entity and port it over to another in a 
        commonly used format.

    Commercially available solutions for complying with GDPR 
requirements exist today. The following are examples of such 
solutions that may help an entity comply with GDPR 
requirements:

    Systems that can identify and manage data;

    Systems to authenticate and manage access to data;

    Encryption technology and key management systems to 
        limit unauthorized access to data;

    Systems to track interactions with data subjects, 
        so they can provide consent, request review and edits 
        of their data, or deletion of their data; and

    Software and hardware that sit on an entity's 
        network to monitor the network and computers for 
        security incidents so as to mitigate potential 
        incidents and alert security teams of incidents.

    While the commercial market has solutions available to 
entities so they may adhere to the GDPR, entities must evaluate 
different technologies and determine which technologies are 
most suitable for their individual practices. These evaluations 
and determinations are entity-specific, but may be informed by 
sector guidance (e.g., health care companies or financial 
institutions). Additionally, some entities will have greater 
resources to devote to the application of technology, while 
others will be constrained. These evaluations may lead to an 
entity opting not to collect or process certain data to ease 
the entity's resource burden.
    While technology is one aspect of privacy and protecting 
consumer's personal information, an entity must also determine 
their processes for data collection and use, understand their 
business needs for data, and establish policies to govern data 
within that entity. This exercise also helps an entity 
understand the risks it faces, and how it may be able to 
address those risks through processes, in addition to 
technology.
                                ------                                


         RESPONSES TO WRITTEN QUESTIONS OF SENATOR REED
                      FROM CHRIS JAIKARAN

Q.1. Given the major breaches that have exposed so many 
Americans' personal information over the past few years, 
haven't we learned by now that it's better for a company to 
invest in cybersecurity before a breach, rather than scramble 
to respond after the fact? Don't companies have more tools than 
ever--like the NIST Cybersecurity Framework--to act responsibly 
and improve their cybersecurity now?

A.1. The decision to invest in security measures, whether cyber 
or physical, is one companies make upon considering various 
risk factors. Not fully understanding their data model, the 
threats the data they hold may face, the vulnerabilities in 
their systems, and the consequences of a cybersecurity incident 
may lead a company to under- or over-estimate their risks, or 
the risk mitigation strategies the company currently has in 
place.
    However, going through the exercise of accurately assessing 
risk allows companies to make cybersecurity decisions in a 
cost-controlled environment. A company can apply the NIST 
Framework for Improving Critical Infrastructure Cybersecurity 
(Cybersecurity Framework) to their business to work through and 
develop a cybersecurity strategy. \1\ The Center for Internet 
Security, the International Standards Organization, and ISACA 
also publish cybersecurity frameworks which an entity may use 
in conjunction with, or in replacement of, the NIST 
Cybersecurity Framework. \2\ Once an entity has developed a 
cybersecurity strategy, they can then estimate the costs to 
implement that strategy, and therefore implement that strategy 
under known costs. However, after a security incident, the 
costs of response and recovery may be unforeseen and may not be 
able to be controlled. From a business operations perspective, 
developing and implementing a cybersecurity strategy up front 
provides certainty whereas cybersecurity indictment response 
and recovery is uncertain.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
     \1\ NIST, ``Cybersecurity Framework'', webpage, at https://
www.nist.gov/cyberframework.
     \2\ Cybersecurity frameworks from these organizations can be found 
at https://www.cisecurity.org/controls/; https://www.iso.org/standard/
54533.html; and http://www.isaca.org/cobit/pages/default.aspx, 
respectively. ISACA was previously known as the Information Systems 
Audit and Control Association, but now goes by its acronym only.




              Additional Material Supplied for the Record




 LETTER FROM JIM NUSSLE, PRESIDENT AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, CREDIT 
                       UNION NATIONAL ASSOCIATION


[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]



  LETTER FROM JOHN A. KOSKINEN, COMMISSIONER, INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE


[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]



  LETTER FROM CARRIE R. HUNT, EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT OF GOVERNMENT 
  AFFAIRS AND GENERAL COUNSEL, THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF FEDERALLY-
                         INSURED CREDIT UNIONS



[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]