SIFMA has released its Data Aggregation Principles to protect member firms and their customers against potential security breaches and misuse of personal financial data by third-party aggregators.
Million of customers are using third party aggregators, such as Mint and Personal Capital, via websites and mobile apps to access a complete picture of their finances on a real-time basis. While these services make it easier to budget and plan, the conveniences they provide come with risks, including misappropriation of data and potential fraud, according to SIFMA.
The securities industry trade organization is especially concerned about "screen scraping" when third-party aggregators, who have been given login credentials to customers' financial accounts, move that data onto their own platform.
"Personal data is the most important currency anyone has in the digital economy," said Lisa Kidd Hunt, SIFMA chair and executive vice president, business initiatives at Charles Schwab & Co., who presented the principles along with SIFMA President and CEO Ken Bentsen and Associate General Counsel Melissa MacGregor at the SIFMA Private Client Conference in Naples, Florida. "Clients expect their data to be protected at every turn … We have a great responsibility as an industry to work together to protect that information."
(Related: FINRA Warns of Data Aggregation Dangers)