COSTA MESA, Calif., Aug. 22, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Morgan Drexen (http://morgandrexen.com) is holding firm in its pledge to protect the private financial records of thousands of American consumers – despite seemingly contradictory directives from the U.S. government. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has demanded Morgan Drexen release private financial and attorney communications of bankruptcy clients protected by attorney-client privilege. However, on Monday, Federal Trade Commission Chairwoman Edith Ramirez said the FTC is pushing Congress for the power to secure civil penalties against businesses that "fail to maintain reasonable security," according to a report by Corporate Counsel, a watchdog organization for attorneys.
"It strikes me as hypocritical and disjointed that one government agency would demand extreme protection of private data, while other government agencies aggressively attempt to harvest that very same data," said Walter Ledda, Morgan Drexen CEO. "This is like the fox guarding the henhouse. The government can't claim to be protecting privacy while invading it at the same time."
In recent months, the CFPB has been harshly criticized for monitoring up to 900 million credit card accounts and spending more than $20 million to collect and analyze the data. The Government Accountability Office is now investigating the CFPB's data mining efforts. The National Security Agency (NSA) has also come under fire for its data gathering and domestic surveillance programs.
Monday, Ramirez gave the keynote address at the Technology Policy Institute in Aspen, CO, saying in her prepared remarks, "The indiscriminate collection of data violates the First Commandment of data hygiene: Thou shall not collect and hold onto personal information unnecessary to an identified purpose. Keeping data on the off-chance that it might prove useful is not consistent with privacy best practices."
In July, Connecticut attorney Kimberly Pisinski and Morgan Drexen filed a federal lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the CFPB, as well as its overreaching demands for sensitive financial documents. On Tuesday, the CFPB filed a separate suit against Morgan Drexen in a jurisdiction 3,000 miles from the pending lawsuit – a move the company's outside counsel described as "procedural gamesmanship."
"This is disruptive and inefficient and distracts from what we should be doing, which is preparing to present arguments to the DC court on the constitutionality of the CFPB structure," said Randall K. Miller, Partner, Venable LLP.
Morgan Drexen has outlined its commitment to protecting sensitive, privileged communications between attorneys and their clients. The statement can be read here.
About Morgan Drexen
Morgan Drexen (www.morgandrexen.com) provides integrated software systems and administrative support services to businesses and industries nationwide. Morgan Drexen's proprietary MDIS software improves workflow through the use of automated document management. In addition to computer technology, Morgan Drexen provides businesses with marketing, marketing support, call centers, outsourced litigation support, databases, work-product retrieval systems and cloud-computing platforms facilitated by the company's outsourced support staff.