This paper studies how the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), a compre-
hensive privacy law that grants users control over their data, affects fintech lending.
To develop hypotheses we build a parsimonious screening model. Consumers apply
for loans with banks and a fintech that has a superior but data-intensive screening
technology. However, consumers dislike sharing their data, and in particular with
the fintech. We empirically show that the introduction of the CCPA, by assuaging
concerns about data sharing, increases mortgage applications with fintechs relative
to banks. Consistent with applicants’ greater willingness to share data, fintechs
make use of non-traditional data to improve screening. In turn, they deny more
applications but offer lower interest rates.