Trump Administration Has Big Thing Against Public Databases

In 2014, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau proposed giving its database of consumer complaints a more “personal” touch—and Wells Fargo was worried.

The CFPB planned to expand its online database by giving aggrieved consumers the opportunity to have their stories—or “narratives,” as the agency referred to them—made publicly available. Sharing those narratives, the CFPB said, would be “impactful by making the complaint data personal” and encourage consumers with negative experiences to “speak up and be heard.”

Wells Fargo urged the CFPB to stand down. In a letter to the agency, a Wells Fargo in-house lawyer, David Moskowitz, said the publication of the narratives could breach consumers' privacy rights and would “likely confuse consumers shopping for financial products.” Another concern: “Published complaint narratives will harm the reputations of financial service companies regulated by the bureau,” he wrote.