Dodd Frank legislation created federal agency monitoring 75% of our credit card transactions

Excuse my blunt question. Why the hell does some federal government agency need to monitor and track the use of my credit card?

Really. What is the reason for this?

In Judicial Watch’s effort to follow the law and uncover the truth behind what your government is not telling you, JW obtained information concerning the activities of a new federal agency, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), which is every bit as alarming as the information disclosed by the fugitive NSA leaker, Edward Snowden.

According to records Judicial Watch obtained from CFPB, the agency has spent millions of dollars for the warrantless collection and analysis of Americans’ financial transactions. The documents also reveal that CFPB contractors may be required to share the information with “additional government entities.”

More.

In a July 17, 2013 interview on “Opinion Journal,” a Wall Street Journal online show, he [U.S. Rep. Sean Duffy (R-Wisc)] invoked the National Security Agency in making his attack on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

“The CFPB is collecting financial information, monitoring financial information, of millions of Americans, and they have no clue that it’s going on. It’s again this NSA push of having more information on more Americans,” Duffy said.

More, with my emphasis in bold.

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau officials are seeking to monitor four out of every five U.S. consumer credit card transactions this year — up to 42 billion transactions – through a controversial data-mining program, according to documents obtained by the Washington Examiner.

A CFPB strategic planning document for fiscal years 2013-17 describes the “markets monitoring” program through which officials aim to monitor 80 percent of all credit card transactions in 2013.

The U.S. Census Bureau reports that 1.16 billion consumer credit cards were in use in 2012 for an estimated 52.6 billion transactions. If CFPB officials reach their stated “performance goal,” they would collect data on 42 billion transactions made with 933 million credit cards used by American consumers.

In addition, CFPB officials hope to monitor up to 95 percent of all mortgage transactions, according to the planning document.

And tell me again for those of you in the “government is here to protect us” crowd. Why are they collecting this information?

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Steve McGough

Steve's a part-time conservative blogger. Steve grew up in Connecticut and has lived in Washington, D.C. and the Bahamas. He resides in Connecticut, where he’s comfortable six months of the year.

3 Comments

  1. Dimsdale on September 13, 2013 at 2:37 pm

    Data mining is just a nice way of saying spying.? Maybe they will learn how real people budget their money.



    • just sayin on September 14, 2013 at 7:19 pm

      Ba-da-bing!



  2. Lynn on September 18, 2013 at 4:08 pm

    Why can’t they just tell u s what they are doing? Why hide it?



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