Internet Privacy
Review > Privacy News >
FINANCIAL PRIVACY
Description
of issue. As a
result of the federal Financial Services Modernization
Act, banks, insurance companies, and brokerage
firms are now able to affiliate with one another
under one corporate roof. This law, known as
Gramm-Leach-Bliley (GLB) after its sponsors,
was implemented in 2001.
Credit
card companies, banks, insurance companies, and
brokerage firms may share their respective databases
with one another - called affiliate sharing --
but they cannot sell customer data to third parties
without providing an opt-out notice to their customers.
Looking
ahead. Unless legislation
is passed at both the federal and state levels
to strengthen the Financial Services Modernization
Act, the process of affiliate sharing will
enable these merged corporations to assemble
customer data files of unprecedented scope.
Some financial institutions have more than
2,000 affiliates spanning a broad array of
businesses.
While "junk" mail,
e-mail, and telemarketing solicitations are a likely
result of widespread affiliate sharing of customer
data, privacy advocates are even more concerned
about the potential for harmful uses of data merging
and data profiling:
- Decisions
on one's credit worthiness might hinge on medical
information gleaned from insurance company data.
A scam artist
might use one's profile as a risk-taking investor
to pitch get-rich-quick schemes.
- Elderly individuals
with cash-rich portfolios could be vulnerable
to fraud artists' promises of lucrative returns
on risky investments.
The
GLB Act contains a provision that enables state
legislatures to pass stronger privacy provisions.
Indeed, several states have debated privacy bills
that allow for an opt-in for third party data sharing,
thereby setting the default at no sharing unless
the customer says "yes." Iin contrast, the GLB
standard is opt-out. For three years, the California
legislature has debated bills that would not only
require opt-in for third party sharing, but an
opt-out for affiliate sharing. Strong lobbying
by the financial services industry has succeeded
in killing these bills.
Given
the high percent of the population favoring strong
privacy protection -- 80% to 90% in most polls
-- state legislatures and Congress are expected
to grapple with this issue for years to come. The
financial services industry will exert considerable
pressure on Congress to pass an amendment to GLB
that prohibits states from enacting stronger privacy
measures.
Read the entire aricle here: http://www.privacyrights.org/ar/Privacy-IssuesList.htm
Free
Internet Privacy software?
Read the review of our #1 recomendadion for Online Privacy
Software
View our Comparision Chart of all reviewed Online Privacy
Software
While there may not be many free internet privacy software
titles available, we have compared many commertial titles
above.
|
