Inside the CFPB: An open data demo for journalists

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, established in 2010 in the wake of the Great Recession, provides federal oversight of consumer financial products and services.

It’s also a rich source of data on consumer complaints, consumer credit trends, credit card agreements and much more — and it’s critical for any journalist covering personal finance and consumer issues to understand how and why to dig into CFPB data.

This hourlong, hands-on demo features Erie Meyer, who served as the CFPB’s first chief technologist from 2021 to 2025. Meyer also played a pivotal role in launching the U.S. Digital Service at the White House, served as senior director at Code for America, and has held key positions at the Federal Trade Commission.

In this demo, you’ll also hear from Joel Jacobs, a data reporter at ProPublica who has written stories on eroding consumer protections under the second Trump administration, and high-interest loans from Tribal lenders, which relied on CFPB complaint data.

By the end of this demo you’ll gain a better grasp of:

– The range of CFPB data offerings.
– How to get the data and analyze it.
– How to turn CFPB data into stories that have an impact.

Clark Merrefield, senior editor at The Journalist’s Resource, moderates.