WASHINGTON—U.S. lawmakers should empower the Federal Trade Commission to impose civil penalties on consumer credit reporting agencies that fail to secure customers' records, congressional auditors recommended in a recently released report.
The Government Accountability Office also urged the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to improve its oversight and supervision of such credit reporting agencies, Reuters reported.
“Concerns over the security of consumer data, particularly with credit reporting companies, have loomed large since Equifax Inc's massive data breach in 2017 that exposed the personal information of more than 43 million Americans in one of the largest hacks ever. If the FTC had the power to fine such companies for violating data security provisions, that would boost consumer data security, given customers have few avenues to protect such sensitive information even after major data breaches,” Reuters said.