The CFPB to Cease Discretionary Publication of Complaint Narratives and Visualizations

Washington, D.C. – Today, the CFPB is ceasing publication of unverified complaint narratives and visualizations.  As the CFPB has long acknowledged, the publication in the Consumer Complaint Database of unverified complaint narratives and associated data visualizations is entirely discretionary. Many years of experience have demonstrated that the utility of such publication is minimal, while often causing confusion and providing misleading data.  By their very nature, complaint narratives reflect negative consumer experiences and present only one side of an issue. Additionally, these unverified allegations do not always describe violations of the law and the complaint process does not verify the allegations in each consumer’s complaint narrative, nor can it, as a practical matter. Publishing such narratives in the Database provides a less-than-representative sample of one-sided experiences that cannot provide consumers with a balanced and accurate view of companies’ compliance with their legal obligations.

Publishing narratives and visualizations given these deficiencies risks confusing and misleading consumers, who should otherwise be able to rely on the Bureau for authoritative information as they choose the products and services that meet their individual needs. It also needlessly harms companies’ reputations.

To more closely align the Bureau’s operations with its statutory authorities and to mitigate the risk to consumers and companies of publishing confusing or misleading information, the CFPB will cease its discretionary publication of consumers’ complaint narratives and visualizations in the Database. The Bureau considers previously published narratives to be in the public domain for Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) purposes. Like the Federal Trade Commission, the Bureau is placing these narratives and is proactively disclosing them in the CFPB’s FOIA Reading Room.