FTC urged to widen Equifax data breach investigation amid concerns over CFPB probe

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is being asked to ramp up its investigation into last year’s Equifax breach after the Trump administration reportedly reined in a similar probe initiated by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).

Sen. Amy Klobuchar, Minnesota Democrat, wrote FTC leadership on Tuesday urging the agency to broaden its Equifax investigation after Reuters reported over the weekend that the CFPB’s probe has effectively been put on ice.

“In light of this concerning development, I urge the FTC to consider increasing the resources and manpower dedicated to its own investigation of the Equifax breach announced in September 2017,” Ms. Klobuchar wrote Monday to acting FTC Chairwoman Maureen Ohlhausen and Commissioner Terrell McSweeny.

The Department of Justice, FTC and CFPB each launched investigations after Equifax revealed a security breach last year exposed the personal information of some 145 million Americans, but the director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), Mick Mulvaney, has since all but ended the latter’s probe, Reuters reported Sunday.

“The FTC is well-positioned to investigate this matter and its effect on consumers and Director Mulvaney’s actions suggest that FTC may be the only independent federal agency left undertaking a thorough civil investigation. A full and fair FTC investigation now appears to be the only way that we will determine the steps needed to prevent similar attacks in the future,” wrote Ms. Klobuchar, a member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation.

Equifax said previously that an online vulnerability had been exploited causing the company to lose control of personal information concerning roughly 145 million customers, including their names, Social Security numbers and birth dates.

Richard Cordray, FTC’s director at the time of the disclosure, launched an investigation within weeks of Equifax’s announcement last September, Reuters reported Sunday. He resigned in November, however, and was subsequently replaced by Mr. Mulvaney, the head of President Trump’s OMB.

Mr. Mulvaney has neither subpoenaed Equifax executives nor sought sworn testimony since assuming the probe, three sources familiar with the matter told Reuters, essentially leaving just the DOJ and FTC to investigate.

“While the investigation by DOJ will seek to uncover any criminal wrongdoing, thorough civil investigations are also essential for identifying the missteps that rendered Equifax’s data vulnerable to such widespread exploitation and determining the necessary corrective actions,” Ms. Klobuchar wrote.

An FTC spokesperson declined to comment on the probe when contacted by Reuters.

Equifax previously said it faced more than 240 lawsuits over the data breach, as well as investigations launched by attorneys general from all 50 states. The company said in a fourth-quarter profit outlook that it expected the data breach would cost between $60 million and $75 million.