WASHINGTON--(COLLEGIATE PRESSWIRE)--Mar 25, 2002--Meeting minimum monthly credit card payments and keeping your checkbook balanced can be challenging at times. But exercising your rights with regard to financial privacy is easy.
In a continuing effort to protect consumers, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System is distributing a guide to help consumers make informed choices about whether to allow their personal financial information to be shared.
“Privacy Choices for Your Personal Financial Information” guides consumers through the choices they face as a result of the privacy provisions of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act of 1999.
Federal privacy laws give consumers the right to prevent, or ''opt out'' of, some sharing of their personal financial information. These laws balance consumers` right to privacy with financial companies` need to provide information for normal business purposes.
The consumer information explains the privacy notices that consumers receive from their banks and other financial companies, what choices consumers face, and consumers` right to opt out of information sharing.
The materials encourage consumers to:
*Read all privacy notices;
*Get answers to questions from the financial companies that provided the notices;
*If applicable, decide whether to opt out; and
*If they want to opt out, follow the instructions in the notice and, if necessary, shop around for a financial institution with the privacy policy they want.
The guide was prepared in consultation with the 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.
Printed copies of the brochure are available free of charge upon request from the member agencies. The brochure also can be printed from www.consumer.gov or from the Federal Reserve’s web site at http://www.federalreserve.gov/pubs/privacy.
|
