Information about http://www.pueblo.gsa.gov/cic_text/money/priv-choices/privacy.pdf
Privacy Choices for Your Personal Financial Information ·…
Tags: affiliated service, banks, checks, choices, cial, exceptions, finan, financial information products, financial information service, gramm leach, information service providers, marketers, personal company, privacy notices, specific service, third party,Pages: 6
Language: english
Created: Mon Feb 4 08:57:59 2002
Display cached document
Page 1
Page 2
Page 3
Page 4
Page 5
Page 6
Privacy
Choices
for Your Personal
Financial
Information
· Service providers--companies hired by your finan-
cial company to perform a specific service, such as Privacy Choices
printing your checks
for Your Personal
· Joint marketers--companies that have an agreement
with your financial company to offer you other financial
Financial Information
products or services
You've probably been receiving privacy notices from
· Other third-party non-affiliates--which could banks and other financial companies. These notices
include companies that may want access to your explain:
financial company's mailing list to tell you about other
· What personal financial information the company
products and services.
collects
Under the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, your financial · Whether the company intends to share your personal
company can provide your personal financial information financial information with other companies
to non-affiliated service providers including joint market-
· What you can do, if the company intends to share
ers. But before it shares your information with other third-
your personal financial information, to limit some of that
party non-affiliates (outside of these exceptions), your
sharing
financial company must tell you about its information
sharing practices and give you the opportunity to opt out. · How the company protects your personal financial
information.
Financial companies share informa- Companies that May
tion for many reasons: to offer you more Send Privacy Notices
services, to introduce new products, and
Companies involved in financial
to profit from the information they have
activities must send their cus-
about you. If you like to know about tomers privacy notices, including:
other products and services, you may
· Banks, savings and loans, and
want your financial company to share credit unions
your personal financial information; in · Insurance companies
this case, you don't need to respond to · Securities and commodities
the privacy notice. If you prefer to limit brokerage firms
· Retailers that directly issue
the promotions you receive or do not
their own credit cards (such as
want marketers and others to have your department stores or gas sta-
personal financial information, you must tions)
take some important steps. · Mortgage brokers
· Automobile dealerships that
First, it is important to read these pri-
extend or arrange financing or
vacy notices. They explain how the com- leasing
pany handles and shares your personal · Check cashers and payday
financial information. Keep in mind that lenders
not all privacy notices are the same. This · Financial advisors and credit
guide tells you about the other steps you counseling services
· Sellers of money orders or
can take to help protect the privacy of
travelers checks.
FRB1-xxx-0202 your personal financial information.
8 1
What Can You Stop-- Appendix
and What Can't You Stop? More Information About the Laws Affecting
Federal privacy laws give you the right to stop (opt out Your Personal Financial Privacy
of) some sharing of your personal financial information.
Two federal laws cover different aspects of how compa-
These laws balance your right to privacy with financial
nies can share your financial information, as described in
companies' need to provide information for normal busi-
this guide: the Fair Credit Reporting Act and the Gramm-
ness purposes. (For more information on these laws, see
Leach-Bliley Act.
the appendix.) You have the right to opt out of some
information sharing with companies that are: The Fair Credit Reporting Act protects the privacy
of certain information distributed by consumer reporting
· Part of the same corporate group as
agencies (CRAs). Most CRAs are credit bureaus that
What Opting Out your financial company (or affiliates)
gather and provide information about you, such as if
Means · Not part of the same corporate group you pay your bills on time or have filed for bankruptcy,
If you opt out, you limit the as your financial company (or non-affili- to creditors and other businesses. Under the law, credit
extent to which the company can ates). bureaus and other CRAs can release your information
provide your personal financial
But you cannot opt out and com- only to those third parties that have certified that they
information to non-affiliates.
pletely stop the flow of all your personal have a purpose permitted by the law to obtain your
If you do not opt out within
a "reasonable period of time"-- financial information. The law permits consumer report, such as to evaluate your application
generally about 30 days after your financial companies to share cer- for credit, insurance, or employment, or to rent you an
the company mails the notice-- tain information about you without giving apartment.
then the company is free to When a financial company obtains your credit report
you the right to opt out. Among other
share certain personal financial
information. things, your financial company can pro- from a credit bureau, it may want to share that informa-
vide to non-affiliates: tion with an affiliate, meaning a company that owns your
If you didn't opt out the first
time you received a privacy financial company, that your financial company owns, or
· Information about you to firms that
notice from a financial company, that is part of the same parent organization or corporate
help promote and market the company's
it's not too late. You can always family. Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, however,
change your mind and opt out of own products or products offered under
if the financial company plans to share certain informa-
certain information sharing. Con- a joint agreement between two financial
tion--for example, from your credit report or your credit
tact your financial company and companies
ask for instructions on how to opt
application--with its affiliates, it will usually first notify you
out. · Records of your transactions--such as and give you an opportunity to opt out. This notice is
Remember, however, that any
your loan payments, credit card or debit likely to be included in the privacy notice you receive
personal financial information card purchases, and checking and sav- from the financial company under the Gramm-Leach-
that was shared before you ings account statements--to firms that Bliley Act.
opted out cannot be retrieved. provide data processing and mailing ser-
The Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act requires financial compa-
vices for your company
nies to tell you about their policies regarding the privacy
· Information about you in response to a of your personal financial information. With some excep-
court order tions, the law limits the ability of financial companies
· Your payment history on loans and to share your personal financial information with certain
credit cards to credit bureaus. non-affiliates. A non-affiliate is a company that is unre-
lated to your financial company, and may include:
2 7
finance companies, credit bureaus, nonbank lenders, auto dealers,
leasing companies, appraisers, real estate settlement services, credit
Your Right to Opt Out
counseling services, and collection agency services
A privacy notice contains information about the compa-
Consumer Response Center
600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW ny's data collection and information sharing policies. If a
Washington, DC 20580 financial company does not plan to share your informa-
877-FTC-HELP or 877-382-4357 toll-free tion except as permitted by law, the notice will tell you
www.ftc.gov this; in this case, you don't have a right to opt out.
also see www.consumer.gov/idtheft/
Non-affiliates. If you have the right to opt out (that is,
National Credit Union Administration if the company plans to share your information), the
Regulates federally chartered credit unions privacy notice will include instructions on
Credit bureaus may also sell
Office of Public and Congressional Affairs how to opt out of sharing some infor- information about you to lenders
1775 Duke Street mation. Unless you opt out, your finan-
Alexandria, VA 22314-3428
and insurers who use the infor-
cial company can provide your personal mation to decide whether to
703-518-6330
financial information (for example, infor- send you unsolicited offers of
www.ncua.gov credit or insurance. This is
mation on the kinds of stores you shop
known as prescreening. You
Office of the Comptroller of the Currency at, how much you borrow, your account
can opt out of receiving these
Regulates national banks, District of Columbia banks, federal branches balances, or the dollar value of your prescreened offers by calling
and federal agencies of foreign banks, and subsidiaries of such entities. assets) to non-affiliates for marketing 1-888-567-8688.
These typically include banks with "national" or "N.A." in their names. and other purposes.
Customer Assistance Group
1301 McKinney Street Affiliates. The privacy notice may also give you the right
Suite 3710 to opt out of certain information sharing with affiliates.
Houston, TX 77010
For example, if a company intends to provide an affiliate
800-613-6743 toll-free
with personal information from your credit report or loan
www.occ.treas.gov
application, you will usually first be given a chance
Office of Thrift Supervision to opt out. Companies, however, can share information
Regulates federal savings and loan associations and federal savings about you with affiliates when the information is based
banks solely on your transactions with that company (transac-
Consumer Programs tion information includes whether you pay your bills on
1700 G Street, NW time, the type of accounts you have with the company,
Washington, DC 20552
and so forth). Read your notices carefully to see if this
800-842-6929 toll-free
type of opt out applies.
www.ots.treas.gov
If you want to opt out of information sharing, you must
Securities and Exchange Commission follow the directions provided by your financial company.
Regulates brokerage firms, mutual fund companies, and investment For example, you may have to call a toll-free number or
advisors fill out a form and return the form to the company.
Office of Investor Education and Assistance In some cases, your financial company may give you
450 5th Street, NW
Washington, DC 20549-0213 the choice to opt out of different types of sharing. For
202-942-9634 fax example, you could opt out of certain categories of infor-
www.sec.gov/complaint.shtml mation the company provides to other companies but
allow the company to share other kinds of information.
6 3
Privacy Notices You May Receive · If applicable, decide whether you want to opt out.
· If you want to opt out, follow the instructions in the
Initial Privacy Notice. You will usually receive a privacy
notice--and, if necessary, shop around for a financial
notice when you open an account or become a customer
institution with the privacy policy you want.
of a financial company. If you open an account over the
phone, however, and you agree, the company may send
you a notice at a later time. Where Else to Turn for Help
Annual Privacy Notices. Each financial company you If you have questions or concerns about a company's
have an ongoing relationship with--for example, the privacy policy, first contact that company directly. If you
bank where you have a checking account, your credit still have questions about your privacy rights in dealing
card company, or a company that services your loan-- with a financial company, you can contact the federal or
must give you a notice of its privacy policy annually. state agency that oversees that type of company:
Notice of Changes in Privacy Policies. If a company
Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System
changes its privacy policy, it will either send you a
Regulates state-chartered banks that are members of the Federal
revised privacy notice or tell you about the changes in
Reserve System, bank holding companies, and branches of foreign
the company's next annual notice. banks
Division of Consumer and Community Affairs, Stop 801
A privacy notice may be included as an insert with 20th and C Streets, NW
your monthly statement or bill, or it may be sent to you Washington, DC 20551
in a separate mailing. If you agree to electronic delivery 202-452-3693
from an on-line financial company, the notice may be www.federalreserve.gov
sent to you by e-mail or it may be made available to you Commodity Futures Trading Commission
on the company's web site. Regulates commodity brokers, commodity trading advisors, commodity
If you have more than one account with the same pools, and introducing brokers
company, the company may send you only one privacy Privacy Officer, Office of Chief Counsel
Division of Trading and Markets
notice for all of your accounts or it may send you sepa-
Three Lafayette Center
rate notices for each of your accounts. 1155 21st Street, NW
If you have a joint account with another person (for Washington, DC 20581
example, a joint checking account or a mortgage loan), 202-418-5430
www.cftc.gov
the financial company may send a notice to one of you
or to each person listed on the account. If the company Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
provides an opportunity to opt out, it must let one of the Regulates state-chartered banks that are not members of the Federal
account holders opt out for all joint account holders. Reserve System
Division of Compliance and Consumer Affairs
550 17th Street, NW
What to Do When Washington, DC 20429
877-ASK-FDIC or 877-275-3342 toll-free
You Receive Your Notices www.fdic.gov
· Read all privacy notices.
Federal Trade Commission
· Get answers to your questions from your financial Regulates any financial company not covered by the other federal
company. regulators such as mortgage brokers, tax and investment services,
4 5