The U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs
considered testimony on the impact of
information resellers (i.e., companies that
collect and resell individuals' information) on financial data
privacy, credit, insurance, employment and housing.
World Privacy Forum Executive Director Pam Dixon urged Congress to regulate consumer scores and
predictions that are being created and sold by information
resellers without oversight. According to Ms. Dixon, these scores,
which often use artificial intelligence ("AI") to make
real-time predictions of consumer behavior, can create "risk,
havoc, or diminished opportunities in a person's
life."
Ms. Dixon stated that information resellers have avoided
regulation due to a loophole in the
Fair Credit Reporting Act ("FCRA") that applies only
to individuals, not to households. She stated that these
unregulated scores, which are supposed to be used only for
marketing purposes, contain critical consumer information.
