Some of the most important data about consumer products and services comes from consumers themselves, but companies, organizations, and the public often are not aware of consumer complaints. A number of federal agencies now provide consumers the opportunity to “tell their story” about the businesses agencies regulate. Consumer complaints are a tool for regulatory agencies and law enforcement to use in protecting consumer safety and consumer rights. By opening these complaint databases, agencies can help improve consumer markets: They will give buyers the information they need to choose consumer-friendly companies, and will help businesses make proactive changes to address consumers’ concerns.
Agencies with a public-safety mandate use consumer complaints as warning systems for issues to investigate, potentially regulate, and alert the public. The Consumer Product Safety Commission invites consumers to report unsafe products at SaferProducts.gov, while the Food and Drug Administration’s Adverse Event Reporting System solicits voluntary reports of drug side effects. The National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration collects vehicle safety complaints as a basis for potential investigations and provides searchable recall information at SaferCar.gov. The Federal Aviation Administration collects complaints about airplane safety and service, which it analyzes for its monthly Air Travel Consumer Report.
Other agencies track consumer problems that, while not life-threatening, can pose the threat of financial loss. The Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) Consumer Sentinel Network may be the largest: It is “based on the premise that sharing information can make law enforcement even more effective,” and gives law enforcement members access to millions of complaints submitted to the FTC and other data sources. In 2015, consumers submitted over 3 million complaints. The FTC shares its Sentinel data only with law enforcement officials, not the public. The Federal Communications Commission analyzes complaints on TV, phone, radio, internet, and other communications issues and acts as a mediator between customers and carriers to resolve issues. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), with a broad mandate for protecting consumers’ rights, manages consumer complaints about various consumer financial products and services, including student loans, mortgages, and credit cards.
The CFPB is now leading the way in making consumer complaint data available as truly open data, and has demonstrated the value of this open approach. In July 2013, shortly after the CFPB began releasing its complaints as open data, Yale University published an analysis showing which banks had the best and worst customer service in different areas. A few months later, American Banker took note and recommended that banks “revamp their customer service operations to encourage irate consumers to complain to them instead of turning to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, where a complaint could spark added regulatory scrutiny.”
In making its data open, the CFPB has worked to ensure fairness for service providers and confidentiality for consumers. The CFPB obtains consumer consent and redacts all personal information before publishing consumer complaint narratives on its website. Additionally, the CFPB sends each complaint to the company involved in order to confirm a commercial relationship with the customer before publishing the complaint online. This system gives companies an option to provide a public response to any consumer complaint before or after a narrative goes public.