Joint Release:
December 23, 2003
Board of Governors
of the Federal Reserve System
Joint Release Commodity Futures Trading Commission
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
Federal Trade Commission
National Credit Union Administration
Office of the Comptroller of the Currency
Office of Thrift Supervision
Securities and Exchange Commission
Federal Regulators Seek Public Comment on Ways to Improve
Privacy Notices
Eight federal regulators today issued
an advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPR) requesting
public comment on
ways to improve the privacy notices financial institutions
provide to consumers under the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLB
Act).
The ANPR describes various approaches that
the agencies could pursue to allow or require financial institutions
to
provide alternative types of privacy notices
that would be more readable and useful to consumers. It also seeks comment
on whether differences between federal and state laws pose any special issues
for developing a short privacy notice.
Section 503 of the GLB Act requires
financial institutions to provide a notice to each customer
that describes the institution’s
policies and practices regarding the disclosure to third parties of nonpublic
personal information.
In 2000, the agencies published consistent final regulations that implement
these provisions, including sample clauses that institutions may use in privacy
notices. However, the regulations do not prescribe any specific format or
standardized wording for privacy notices.
The agencies do not propose the adoption of any
specific action at this time to improve privacy notices. Instead, the agencies
request input on what approaches
would be most useful to consumers while taking into consideration the burden
on financial institutions.
The ANPR was developed jointly by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve
System, Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation,
Federal Trade Commission, National Credit Union Administration, Office of
the Comptroller of the Currency, Office of Thrift Supervision, and Securities
and
Exchange Commission.
The agencies will evaluate the public comments on the ANPR
with a view toward developing proposals for appropriate interpretations or
amendments to their
respective regulations. In the event that the agencies decide to proceed,
the agencies expect to do so through proposed rulemaking.
The agencies also expect
that consumer testing will be a
key component in the development of any specific proposal.
A
copy of the ANPR is attached. Written comments may be submitted within 90
days of its publication in the Federal Register, which is
expected in early
January.
Media Contacts:
CFTC Douglass Leslie (202) 418-5077
FDIC David Barr (202) 898-6992
Federal Reserve Susan Stawick (202) 452-2955
FTC Jen Schwartzman (202) 326-2674
NCUA Cherie Umbel (703) 518-6337
OCC Robert Garsson (202) 874-5770
OTS Chris Smith (202) 906-6677
SEC John Heine (202) 942-0022
(http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2003/12/privnoticesjoint.htm)
|