The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has begun the process of bringing Google under federal supervision, an effort that, if successful, could create new standards for how the federal government supervises big technology companies. If placed under CFPB oversight, Google would be subject to regular inspection and scrutiny, but the exact purpose of the agency’s efforts has not been fully disclosed. But sources told The Washington Post that Google has been fighting the CFPB’s move for months, and it has been a project in the works for some time.
The division was established in 2008 in response to that year’s financial crisis, and its purpose is to protect consumers from unfair or deceptive financial practices. The CFPB primarily targets companies such as banks and credit unions, but Director Rahit Chopra has expressed interest in recent years in bringing similar oversight to high-tech companies that provide financial products. For example, in 2021, the agency launched an investigation into the app store payment systems of Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google, PayPal, and Square.
Preliminary moves by the CFPB to oversee Google and the CFPB’s full scope of operations are likely to be influenced by Donald Trump’s return to the presidency in early 2025.
