INTRODUCTION
The Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act seeks to protect consumer financial privacy. Its provisions limit when a “financial institution” may disclose a consumer’s “nonpublic personal information” to nonaffiliated third parties.
The law covers a broad range of financial institutions, including many companies not traditionally considered to be financial institutions because they engage in certain “financial activities.”
Financial institutions must notify their customers about their information-sharing practices and tell consumers of their right to “opt-out” if they don’t want their information shared with certain nonaffiliated third parties. In addition, any entity that receives consumer financial information from a financial institution may be restricted in its reuse and redisclosure of that information.