The massive data breach at the Equifax credit reporting agency is something the Treasury secretary said he intends to bring up with the acting director of the federal consumer protection bureau, during questions and answers with a congressional committee Tuesday.
During Q&A with members of the House Financial Services Committee, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said he hasn’t spoken about the issue to Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Mick Mulvaney – “but I will,” he said. “It is something I am going to discuss with him.”
Mnuchin’s response, and the question posed to him, was prompted by reports Monday that the CFPB, under Mulvaney’s direction, had throttled back its investigation into the breach at Equifax. The data breach at the credit reporting agency, reported late last summer, resulted in the exposure of sensitive personal information of 143 million Americans, according to the Federal Trade Commmission (FTC).
The FTC noted that, according to Equifax, the breach lasted from mid-May through July. “The hackers accessed people’s names, Social Security numbers, birth dates, addresses and, in some instances, driver’s license numbers. They also stole credit card numbers for about 209,000 people and dispute documents with personal identifying information for about 182,000 people,” the agency said.
In a statement, reported by Reuters news agency, CFPB said it is “looking into Equifax’s data breach and response.” (There is no statement published on the agency’s website, however.)