Roll Call: Chopra brings Big Tech scrutiny to new consumer protection post

October 26, 2021 Media

During his time on the Federal Trade Commission, Rohit Chopra made a point of scrutinizing the business practices of big technology companies such as Facebook, Google and Amazon.

Now, much to the delight of progressives in Washington, he appears to be bringing the same focus to his new job as leader of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Last Thursday, in one of Chopra’s first acts as director, the agency ordered six major technology companies to come forward with information on their payment systems and how they manage personal user data related to payments and financial information.

In a statement accompanying the order, Chopra acknowledged that innovative payment systems could have positive benefits for consumers and small-business owners alike. But he said that in the hands of companies that already wield considerable market power and possess huge swaths of data on their users’ private lives, such systems could be abused.

Sarah Miller, president of the American Economic Liberties Project, an organization that seeks to break up monopolies in the technology sector and other industries, said the probe could be a crucial step toward preventing the companies from dominating another area of the economy.

“A week in, Chopra is already proving he knows how to use his authority to stand up to Big Tech,” Miller said in a statement. “The CFPB’s orders will force Big Tech to come clean on their surveillance, data collection, and payments systems and provide regulators another important window in their sprawling empires.”