II 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2362 

To amend the Fair Credit Reporting Act to require that a consumer authorize 

the release of certain information. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 30, 2018 

Mr. REED introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to 

the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs 

A BILL 

To amend the Fair Credit Reporting Act to require that 

a consumer authorize the release of certain information. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Control Your Personal 

5 Credit Information Act of 2018’’. 

6 SEC. 2. PERMISSIBLE PURPOSES OF REPORTS. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Fair Credit Reporting Act 

8 (15 U.S.C. 1681 et seq.) is amended— 

9 (1) in section 604 (15 U.S.C. 1681b)— 


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1 (A) by striking subsections (c) through (e) 

2 and inserting the following: 

3 ‘‘(c) CONDITIONS FOR FURNISHING CERTAIN CON4 SUMER REPORTS.— 

5 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A consumer reporting 

6 agency may furnish a consumer report for the fol7 lowing purposes only if the consumer provides the 

8 consumer reporting agency with affirmative written 

9 consent to furnish the consumer report, after fur10 nishing proper identification under section 610: 

11 ‘‘(A) An extension of credit pursuant to 

12 subsection (a)(3)(A). 

13 ‘‘(B) The underwriting of insurance pursu14 ant to subsection (a)(3)(C). 

15 ‘‘(2) ADDITIONAL REPORTS; ELECTION.—After 

16 a consumer has provided affirmative written consent 

17 and furnished proper identification under paragraph 

18 (1) to a consumer reporting agency, the consumer 

19 reporting agency may continue to furnish consumer 

20 reports solely for the purposes of reviewing or col21 lecting on an account described in subparagraphs 

22 (A) and (C) of subsection (a)(3). 

23 ‘‘(3) FURNISHING REPORTS IN CONNECTION

24 WITH CREDIT OR INSURANCE TRANSACTIONS THAT

25 ARE NOT INITIATED BY CONSUMER.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A consumer reporting 

2 agency may furnish a consumer report to a per3 son in connection with any credit or insurance 

4 transaction under subparagraph (A) or (C) of 

5 subsection (a)(3) that is not initiated by the 

6 consumer only if— 

7 ‘‘(i) the consumer provides the con8 sumer reporting agency affirmative written 

9 consent to furnish the consumer report, 

10 after furnishing proper identification under 

11 section 610; and 

12 ‘‘(ii) the transaction consists of a firm 

13 offer of credit or insurance. 

14 ‘‘(B) ELECTION.—The consumer may elect 

15 to— 

16 ‘‘(i) have the consumer’s name and 

17 addresses included in lists of names and 

18 addresses provided by the consumer report19 ing agency pursuant to subparagraphs (A) 

20 and (C) of subsection (a)(3) in connection 

21 with any credit or insurance transaction 

22 that is not initiated by the consumer only 

23 if— 

24 ‘‘(I) the consumer provides the 

25 consumer reporting agency affirmative 


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1 written consent to furnish the con2 sumer report, after furnishing proper 

3 identification under section 610; and 

4 ‘‘(II) the transaction consists of 

5 a firm offer of credit or insurance; 

6 and 

7 ‘‘(ii) revoke at any time the election 

8 pursuant to clause (i) to have the con9 sumer’s name and address included in lists 

10 provided by a consumer reporting agency. 

11 ‘‘(C) INFORMATION REGARDING INQUIR12 IES.—Except as provided in section 609(a)(5), 

13 a consumer reporting agency shall not furnish 

14 to any person a record of inquiries in connec15 tion with a credit or insurance transaction that 

16 is not initiated by a consumer. 

17 ‘‘(4) DISCLOSURES.— 

18 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A person may not 

19 procure a consumer report for any purpose pur20 suant to subparagraphs (D), (F), and (G) of 

21 subsection (a)(3) unless— 

22 ‘‘(i) a clear and conspicuous disclosure 

23 has been made in writing to the consumer 

24 at any time before the report is procured 

25 or caused to be procured, in a document 


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1 that consists solely of the disclosure, that 

2 a consumer report may be obtained for 

3 such purposes; and 

4 ‘‘(ii) the consumer has authorized in 

5 writing the procurement of the consumer 

6 report by that person. 

7 ‘‘(B) AUTHORIZATIONS.—The authoriza8 tion described in subparagraph (A)(ii) may be 

9 made on the disclosure document provided 

10 under subparagraph (A)(i). 

11 ‘‘(5) RULE MAKING.—Not later than 180 days 

12 after the date of enactment of the Control Your Per13 sonal Credit Information Act of 2018, the Director 

14 of the Bureau shall promulgate regulations that— 

15 ‘‘(A) implement this subsection; 

16 ‘‘(B) establish a model form for the disclo17 sure document pursuant to paragraph (4) and 

18 define the term clear and conspicuous disclo19 sure; 

20 ‘‘(C) establish guidelines that permit con21 sumers to provide a single written authorization 

22 as required by paragraph (1) for a specific time 

23 period for multiple users for the specified pur24 pose during that time period; 


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1 ‘‘(D) require a consumer reporting agency 

2 to provide to each consumer a secure, conven3 ient, accessible, and cost-free method by which 

4 a consumer may allow or disallow the fur5 nishing of consumer reports pursuant to this 

6 subsection; and 

7 ‘‘(E) require a consumer reporting agency 

8 not later than 2 business days after the date on 

9 which a consumer makes an election to revoke 

10 the consumer’s inclusion of the consumer’s 

11 name and address in lists provided by a con12 sumer reporting agency pursuant to paragraph 

13 (3)(B) to implement that election. 

14 ‘‘(6) PROHIBITIONS.— 

15 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The method described 

16 in paragraph (5)(D) shall not be used to— 

17 ‘‘(i) collect any information on a con18 sumer that is not necessary for the pur19 pose of the consumer to allow or disallow 

20 the furnishing of consumer reports; or 

21 ‘‘(ii) advertise any product or service. 

22 ‘‘(B) NO WAIVER.—In the offering of a 

23 method described in paragraph (5)(D), a con24 sumer reporting agency shall not require a con25 sumer to waive any rights nor indemnify the 


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1 consumer reporting agency from any liabilities 

2 arising from the offering of such method. 

3 ‘‘(7) REPORTS.— 

4 ‘‘(A) CFPB.— 

5 ‘‘(i) RECOMMENDATION.—Not later 

6 than 180 days after the date of enactment 

7 of the Control Your Personal Credit Infor8 mation Act of 2018, the Director of the 

9 Bureau shall, after consultation with the 

10 Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, 

11 the National Credit Union Administration, 

12 and other Federal and State regulators as 

13 the Director of the Bureau determines are 

14 appropriate, submit to the Committee on 

15 Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of 

16 the Senate and the Committee on Finan17 cial Services of the House of Representa18 tives recommendations on how to provide 

19 consumers greater transparency and per20 sonal control over their consumer reports 

21 furnished for permissible purposes under 

22 subsections (a)(3)(E) and (a)(6). 

23 ‘‘(ii) REPORT.—The Director of the 

24 Bureau shall submit to the Committee on 

25 Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of 


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1 the Senate and the Committee on Finan2 cial Services of the House of Representa3 tives an annual report that includes rec4 ommendations on how this subsection may 

5 be improved, a description of enforcement 

6 actions taken to demonstrate compliance 

7 with this subsection, recommendations on 

8 how to improve oversight of consumer re9 porting agencies and users of consumer re10 ports, and any other recommendations con11 cerning how consumers may be provided 

12 greater transparency and control over their 

13 personal information. 

14 ‘‘(B) GAO.— 

15 ‘‘(i) STUDY.—The Comptroller Gen16 eral of the United States shall conduct a 

17 study on what additional protections or re18 strictions may be needed to ensure that the 

19 information collected in consumer files is 

20 secure and does not adversely impact con21 sumers. 

22 ‘‘(ii) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year 

23 after the date of enactment of the Control 

24 Your Personal Credit Information Act of 

25 2018, the Comptroller General of the 


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1 United States shall submit to the Com2 mittee on Banking, Housing, and Urban 

3 Affairs of the Senate and the Committee 

4 on Financial Services of the House of Rep5 resentatives a report on the results of the 

6 study under clause (i), which shall in7 clude— 

8 ‘‘(I) to the greatest extent pos9 sible, the presentation of unambiguous 

10 conclusions and specific recommenda11 tions for further legislative changes 

12 needed to ensure that the information 

13 collected in consumer files is secure 

14 and does not adversely impact con15 sumers; and 

16 ‘‘(II) if no recommendations for 

17 further legislative changes are pre18 sented, a detailed explanation of why 

19 no such changes are recommended.’’; 

20 (B) by redesignating subsections (f) and 

21 (g) as subsections (d) and (e), respectively; and 

22 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

23 ‘‘(f) NO FEES.—No consumer reporting agency may 

24 charge a consumer any fee for any activity pursuant to 

25 this section.’’; 


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1 (2) in section 607(a) (15 U.S.C. 1681e(a)), by 

2 inserting ‘‘Every consumer reporting agency shall 

3 use commercially reasonable efforts to avoid unau4 thorized access to consumer reports and information 

5 in the file of a consumer maintained by the con6 sumer reporting agency, including complying with 

7 any appropriate standards established under section 

8 501(b) of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (15 U.S.C. 

9 6801(b)).’’ after the end of the third sentence; 

10 (3) in section 609 (15 U.S.C. 1681g), by strik11 ing subsection (b) and inserting the following: 

12 ‘‘(b) SCOPE OF DISCLOSURE.—The Director of the 

13 Bureau shall promulgate regulations to clarify that any 

14 information held by a consumer reporting agency about 

15 a consumer shall be disclosed to the consumer when a con16 sumer makes a written request, irrespective of whether the 

17 information is held by the parent, subsidiary, or affiliate 

18 of a consumer reporting agency.’’; and 

19 (4) in section 610(a)(1) (15 U.S.C. 

20 1681h(a)(1)), by striking ‘‘section 609’’ and insert21 ing ‘‘sections 604 and 609’’. 

22 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

23 The Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681 et seq.) 

24 is amended— 


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1 (1) in section 603(d)(3) (15 U.S.C. 

2 1681a(d)(3)), in the matter preceding subparagraph 

3 (A), by striking ‘‘604(g)(3)’’ and inserting 

4 ‘‘604(e)(3)’’; 

5 (2) in section 615(d) (15 U.S.C. 1681m(d))— 

6 (A) in paragraph (1)— 

7 (i) in the matter preceding subpara8 graph (A), by striking ‘‘604(c)(1)(B)’’ and 

9 inserting ‘‘604(c)(3)(A)(ii)’’; and 

10 (ii) in subparagraph (E), by striking 

11 ‘‘604(e)’’ and inserting ‘‘604(c)(5)(D)’’; 

12 and 

13 (B) in paragraph (2)(A), by striking 

14 ‘‘604(e)’’ and inserting ‘‘604(c)(5)(D)’’; and 

15 (3) in section 625(b)(1)(A) (15 U.S.C. 

16 1681t(b)(1)(A)), by striking ‘‘subsection (c) or (e) of 

17 section 604’’ and inserting ‘‘604(c)’’. 

Æ 


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