The US Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is set to unveil plans that will regulate data brokers due to growing concerns over privacy violations.

Rohit Chopra, director of the CFPB, highlighted the potential risks associated with the unchecked collection of data from vulnerable individuals, stating, “The CFPB will be taking steps to ensure that modern-day data brokers in the surveillance industry know that they cannot engage in illegal collection and sharing of our data.”

In an effort to fortify consumer data protection, the forthcoming CFPB proposal plans to broaden the scope of the Fair Credit Reporting Act. This expansion would mean that companies managing data, such as payment histories and criminal records, would be under more stringent regulations. Officials expressed particular apprehension about the sharing of “credit header data” by leading credit bureaus, especially when it pertains to individuals like domestic violence survivors who may be actively avoiding contact.

This comes as the Biden administration has been vowing to tighten its oversight on companies that amass and trade personal data amidst escalating concerns about privacy breaches.