Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) asked the Federal Trade Commission ("FTC") to commit additional resources to its investigation of the Equifax data breach.
Senator Klobuchar's request came in response to a report that Consumer Financial Protection Bureau ("CFPB") Acting Director Mick Mulvaney has relaxed the CFPB investigation into the data breach. According to Senator Klobuchar, the report indicates that CFPB investigatory efforts have "almost completely stalled," with investigators "fail[ing] to take even routine investigative measures."
Senator Klobuchar suggested that the CFPB's decision to back off indicates that the FTC "may be the only independent agency left undertaking a thorough civil investigation." Although the DOJ is pursuing a criminal investigation, she asserted, a comprehensive FTC investigation would be extremely useful for future cybersecurity efforts. She argued it could be critical to determining Equifax's missteps that left its data susceptible to such a significant breach.
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