Former SEC attorney: government claims it will protect your data but it cannot honor that promiseMadison Ruppert This is especially troubling given the growing presence of centralized systems in which massive amounts of private information is held, such as the Federal Services Data Hub authorized by the Affordable Care Act, better known as Obamacare. The statement was made by Hester Peirce, who currently serves as a senior research fellow at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, and previously served as senior counsel to Senator Richard Shelbys staff on the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs. The government can earnestly promise that it will protect your data, butstaffed as it is with humans, some of whom are diligent but careless and others of whom are ill-intentionedit cannot honor that promise, Peirce wrote for The Hill. She made her remarks in response to the latest instance of a government agency mishandling private information, in this case it was SEC employee data leaked by a former SEC worker. In her article, Peirce raises concerns about the Consumer Financial Protection Bureaus data collection practices. The CFPB is compiling a database of loan-level data, according to Peirce. It also holds on to 4 percent of consumers credit records dating back a decade, though the agency says that all of this data is not tied to a named individual. Despite the claims made by the CFPB, The fact is, the CFPB does have some personally identifiable data andusing a little bit of elbow grease or the computer wizardry of its Generation Y workforcecan probably tie a named consumer to the allegedly unidentifiable data it has, according to Peirce. While the CFPB attempts to reassure Americans by saying that they store confidential information and data according to information security requirements that comply with applicable Federal laws and regulations, such statements are hardly comforting. As Peirce notes, the SEC does the same thing as do the other agencies who have, in one way or another, released personal information. Peirce points to a 2006 incident in which a Department of Veteran Affairs employee lostin a home burglaryelectronic data containing sensitive personal information on 26 million of our nations veterans. The VAs notice published at the time stated that the data released included names, addresses, Social Security numbers and even some information about individuals disabilities. Peirce argues that breaches like the most recent one at the SEC should be expected since it just another human organization. That is why we ought to be awfully sure that regulators really need data before we start handing it over to them, she concludes. Please support our work and help us start to pay contributors by doing your shopping through our Amazon link or check out some must-have products at our store. This article first appeared at End the Lie. Madison Ruppert is the Editor and Owner-Operator of the alternative news and analysis databaseEnd The Lie and has no affiliation with any NGO, political party, economic school, or other organization/cause. He is available for podcast and radio interviews. Madison also now has his own radio show on UCYTV Monday nights 7 PM 9 PM PT/10 PM 12 AM ET. Show page link here: http://UCY.TV/EndtheLie. If you have questions, comments, or corrections feel free to contact him at admin@EndtheLie.com linkwithin_text=Related Articles: 