US senators push for Fannie and Freddie wind-down

Gina Chon:

US senators Bob Corker and Mark Warner on Wednesday made another push for their legislation to wind down Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, saying the opportunity to resolve the ownership of the mortgage finance agencies bailed out during the financial crisis should not be squandered.

Their statements at a Financial Services Roundtable discussion on housing finance reform come as the Senate gears up to present a revised plan on Fannie and Freddie, which is aimed at pleasing both Republicans and Democrats.

The Senate banking committee’s leading Democrat and Republican, Tim Johnson and Mike Crapo, are in the advanced stages of putting together a compromise bill that borrows some aspects of the Corker-Warner legislation.

The debate over what to do with Fannie and Freddie had a new twist after Bruce Berkowitz’s Fairholme Funds in November proposed taking over operations of the bulk of the mortgage finance companies.

Mr Corker, a Republican, on Wednesday reiterated that the Fairholme plan proved there was an appetite for risk from the private sector, an issue that drew scepticism from critics of the Corker-Warner bill. White House officials have rejected the hedge fund proposal.

Carmakers keep data on drivers’ locations

David Shephardson:

A government report finds that major automakers are keeping information about where drivers have been — collected from onboard navigation systems — for varying lengths of time. Owners of those cars can’t demand that the information be destroyed. And, says the U.S. senator requesting the investigation, that raises questions about driver privacy.
 
 The Government Accountability Office in a report released Monday found major automakers have differing policies about how much data they collect and how long they keep it.
 
 Automakers collect location data in order to provide drivers with real-time traffic information, to help find the nearest gas station or restaurant, and to provide emergency roadside assistance and stolen vehicle tracking. But, the report found, “If companies retained data, they did not allow consumers to request that their data be deleted, which is a recommended practice.”
 
 The report reviewed practices of Detroit’s Big Three automakers, Toyota Motor Corp., Honda Motor Co. and Nissan Motor Co. It also looked at navigation system makers Garmin and TomTom and app developers Google Maps and Telenav. The report, which didn’t identify the specific policies of individual companies, found automakers had taken steps to protect privacy and were not selling personal data of owners, but said drivers are not aware of all risks.
 
 The agency said privacy advocates worry location data could be used to market to individuals and to “track where consumers are, which can in turn be used to steal their identity, stalk them or monitor them without their knowledge. In addition, location data can be used to infer other sensitive information about individuals such as their religious affiliation or political activities.”

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