New Debt Collection Rule Substitutes Email, Text and Social Media Messages for Paper Notices

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) gave an early Christmas present to debt collectors, at the expense of the very consumers they are mandated to protect. Ignoring a mountain of public comments from citizens, cyber security experts and consumer advocacy groups including Keep Me Posted (KMP) detailing the multitude of harms and risks unleashed by its proposed rules, the Bureau plowed ahead and finalized a sweeping deregulation that will subject society to an unwelcome digital deluge of menace and fraud.

Under the guise of so-called modernization, the CFPB will give the green light to 3rd-party debt collectors to exploit Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter messaging — as well as emails and text messaging — in their bounty hunting efforts. The new rules would further allow for an unlimited quantity of such unsolicited digital contacting — while simultaneously expanding the frequency of phone calls to 7 times per week per alleged debt. Meanwhile, the safe, secure and discreet practice of mailing paper letters will remain an option for professional firms seeking reliable communications options.

To be clear, America’s consumers did not ask for this. And they will not even be given the option to opt-in to any such digital communications they might prefer. Instead, there will be future guidance on procedures they would need to take to opt out of the sudden barrage of messaging across their digital channels and devices. As for the once unthinkable practice of turning social media accounts into vehicles for debt collection, it appears that even the leading platforms were caught by surprise and are now pressed to evaluate how they might adapt in response. Many do not currently require a formal connection between sender and recipient for direct messaging to occur, however the CFPB’s new rule appears to even allow debt collectors to “friend” consumers and join their social networks as well.

KMP is concerned that the federal agency tasked with protecting consumers also ignored dire warnings that extend far beyond the harsh nuisance of digital harassment. Concerns raised in our public comments, and echoed by consumer advocates, detail the fundamental loss of rights that could now occur — as well as a Pandora’s box opened to a multitude of cyber harms not just for those in debt collection, but society as a whole.
see more detail at: https://keepmepostedna.org/new-us-cfpb-rules-invite-digital-harassment-in-debt-collection/

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