Restrict Sharing of Credit Data

Legislators in California are considering a bill that would require California banks and other financial institutions to obtain their customers' permission before sharing or selling personally identifiable data to unaffiliated third party organizations. If a consumer does not respond to a request for permission to share information with other organizations, the data cannot be shared. Further, the bill would halt distribution of consumers' data to their affiliates, if customers asked them to. Public opinion polls suggest that there is considerable support for "financial privacy." On March 3, the State Senate passed the bill and sent it to the Assembly. However, when the Assembly failed to act, proponents of the bill said that an even stronger measure would be placed on the ballot at the next general election.