U.S. federal regulators have devised a prototype for financial privacy notices within the framework of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act. If the new version successfully passes a test period, then those using financial services will find it much easier to navigate their way around privacy issues.
Financial privacy notices, required under the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA), can include all of the information required by law in a short document that consumers can readily understand. That is the conclusion reached by an interagency project made up of experts from six U.S. federal agencies.
The regulatory bodies carried out research resulting in a 384-page report. The most important aspect was the creation of a prototype for financial privacy notices that will be tested in the second stage of the study.
If those tests prove successful, then the lengthy and confusing notices currently required in line with GLBA could be replaced by new, more understandable notices.
“The proposed change will not make compliance with GLBA any easier, but it will make things easier for consumers of financial services. The current version of notification is too long and confusing, and it would be doing everyone a favor if it were made shorter and clearer," says Denis Zenkin, marketing director at InfoWatch.
Source: Federal Reserve
