On January 27, 2014, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) published a three-page consumer advisory to help consumers protect themselves in the wake of the recent breaches of payment card and other data.  The advisory encourages card holders to submit complaints about issuers’ inadequate responses to disputes related to data breaches.  It also contains information on where to get help if consumers suspect their information has been compromised.

This advisory comes on the heels of Senator Chuck Shumer’s request that the CFPB conduct an investigation of the data breach and issue a “full report on the findings of its investigation — informing the public of how this breach occurred, how consumers can protect themselves from similar attacks, and any further recommendations the CFPB may have for retailers to minimize the occurrence of similar breaches.”  Schumer also asked Director Cordray to “take a closer look at whether retailers systems should be required to transfer credit and debit card information as encrypted data. . . . The CFPB must ensure that necessary rules and standards for retailers are in place to validate consumers’ trust in the transaction process.”