October 14, 2003

Contact: Janell Mayo Duncan, Consumers Union, 202-462-6262
Dave Nathan, Tom Otwell AARP, 202-234-2560

(Washington, D.C.) – Citing current law that leaves consumers “vulnerable to identity theft, unwanted marketing, discrimination and fraud,” AARP joined Consumers Union in asking the Senate to support a measure that gives consumers the right to say “no” to the unrestricted sharing of their private financial information.

In a letter sent to Senators today, AARP and CU urged support of the Feinstein/Boxer amendment, which limits sharing of personal information like Social Security numbers, bank accounts, balances and detailed purchasing histories among affiliated companies of banks, credit card companies and other financial institutions.

The Feinstein/Boxer measure is expected to be considered next week by the Senate as it takes up the National Consumer Credit Reporting System Improvement Act of 2003, which will amend the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act.

AARP, which has more than 35 million members, and CU, the nonprofit publisher of Consumer Reports magazine, said information sharing enables financial institutions to profile an individual’s spending habits and payment histories. This enables institutions to make discriminatory decisions about credit and insurance products and services. Consumers can wind up paying higher rates or be denied insurance, credit and other financial services.

“We believe the practice of allowing unauthorized sharing of personal information among affiliated companies represents a fundamental invasion of consumers’ privacy,” the organizations wrote. “Consumers deserve more control over the distribution of their personal financial information.”

The National Consumer Credit Reporting System Improvement Act of 2003 also jeopardizes the ability of states to enhance consumer privacy protections beyond the federal level by prohibiting states from enacting stronger safeguards.

For more information on the issue, go to: http://www.consumersunion.org/pub/core_financial.html