By Douglas V. Gibbs
A new database for the federal government is taking the fears of a big brother government breathing down our necks, and knowing everything about us, to new heights.
The new "national" database (remember, we are not supposed to have a national government. . . it is a federal government, a union of States) is being assembled by the The Federal Housing Finance Agency and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Don't worry. It's for your own protection. The U.S. Government promises to use it in a benign manner.
In that database will be your personally identifiable information from head to toe.
FHFA will manage the database and share it with CFPB. A CFPB internal planning document for 2013-17 describes the bureau as monitoring 95 percent of all mortgage transactions.
FHFA officials claim the database is essential to conducting a monthly mortgage survey required by the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 and to help it prepare an annual report for Congress.
See? They promise they aren't going to use it to monitor you, or dig into your personal data.
Critics question the need for such a “vast database” for simple reporting purposes.
In a May 15 letter to FHFA Director Mel Watt and CFPB Director Richard Cordray, Rep. Jeb Hensarling, R-Texas, and Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, charged, "this expansion represents an unwarranted intrusion into the private lives of ordinary Americans."
The fourth amendment is on life support.
Critics also warn the new database will be vulnerable to cyber attacks that could put private information about millions of consumers at risk. They also question the agency’s authority to collect such information.
The database expansion will include a host of data points, including a mortgage owner’s name, address, Social Security number, all credit card and other loan information and account balances.
The database will also encompass a mortgage holder’s entire credit history, including delinquent payments, late payments, minimum payments, high account balances and credit scores, according to the notice.
The two agencies will also assemble “household demographic data,” including racial and ethnic data, gender, marital status, religion, education, employment history, military status, household composition, the number of wage earners and a family’s total wealth and assets.
There is no indication they will share that information with other agencies. . . but we know what will happen if this is allowed to happen.
Rep. Randy Neugebauer, R-Texas, who sits on the Hensarling panel and who has followed the mortgage database's development, said he was “deeply concerned” about the expansion.
“When you look at the kinds of data that are going to be collected on individuals, just about anything about you is going to be in this database.”
According to other critics, "It seems they’re just adding information and they’re not really stating where it’s going or what it’s going to be used for. There’s no straightaway answer. They say they are trying to assemble as much information that they can."
"Why are we collecting this amount of data on this many individuals?"
If the Obamacare website it any indication on how government doesn't seem to grasp security and making a system work properly, how can we ensure this database has the necessary precautions to make sure that individual consumers are protected?
-- Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary
New Federal Database will Track Americans' Credit Ratings, other Financial Information - Washington Examiner
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