The Overlap Between Identity Theft, Consumer Data Privacy and the Fair Credit Reporting Act
Charles Carreon
The Federal Trade Commission (”FTC“) has positioned itself at the center of the emerging problem of identity theft. However, due to the current state of the law, privacy between you, your bank and other financial institutions is mostly a matter of agreement, rather than a set of obligations imposed by law. While banks and other financial institutions are required to perform all manner of services in all manner of prescribed ways, they are free to do with your financial information whatever you allow. All financial institutions were required to give you notice of privacy policies starting July 1, 2001. That must have been why you got all that small print along with your checking account statement during that month. If you ever get curious about what was in the privacy statement, your bank probably has it posted on their website, and you should have an opportunity to opt out of their proposed uses of information.
The FTC is trying to protect consumer privacy through ”voluntary initiatives with private industry.“ This is why you are being plagued with the question, ”May we share your information with other financial institutions?“ every time you are processing a loan or some such thing. The answer, of course, is ”No.“
All financial service providers, and most lenders, feed information to the three main Credit Reporting Agencies (CRAs”). CRAs sell information to financial services companies that want to market credit offers to you. You can prevent this by using the form letter written by the FTC, and available at FTC.gov, called the “Credit Reporting Agency Opt-Out Letter.” You can also call 888-567-8688 for more information. The FTC provides information on its website for how to opt out of direct mail marketing, telemarketing, and some spam.
The Federal Trade Commission (”FTC“) has positioned itself at the center of the emerging problem of identity theft. However, due to the current state of the law, privacy between you, your bank and other financial institutions is mostly a matter of agreement, rather than a set of obligations imposed by law. While banks and other financial institutions are required to perform all manner of services in all manner of prescribed ways, they are free to do with your financial information whatever you allow. All financial institutions were required to give you notice of privacy policies starting July 1, 2001. That must have been why you got all that small print along with your checking account statement during that month. If you ever get curious about what was in the privacy statement, your bank probably has it posted on their website, and you should have an opportunity to opt out of their proposed uses of information.
The FTC is trying to protect consumer privacy through ”voluntary initiatives with private industry.“ This is why you are being plagued with the question, ”May we share your information with other financial institutions?“ every time you are processing a loan or some such thing. The answer, of course, is ”No.“
All financial service providers, and most lenders, feed information to the three main Credit Reporting Agencies (CRAs”). CRAs sell information to financial services companies that want to market credit offers to you. You can prevent this by using the form letter written by the FTC, and available at FTC.gov, called the “Credit Reporting Agency Opt-Out Letter.” You can also call 888-567-8688 for more information. The FTC provides information on its website for how to opt out of direct mail marketing, telemarketing, and some spam.