The Ranking Member on the Senate Banking Committee urged Congrhhs to quickly pass legislation eliminating the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act requirement for financial firms to mail annual privacy notices to customers even when they do not share information with third parties and their privacy policies have not changed, . Senator Mike Crapo (D-ID) said in a American Banker op-ed piece that the House of Representatives passed legislation eliminating the privacy notice in these circumstances by voice vote, and a companion bill in the Senate, S. 635, has more than 70 bipartisan co-sponsors.
Under current law, financial institutions of all sizes are required to provide annual privacy notices explaining information-sharing practices to all customers. Financial firms are required to give these notices each year, even if their privacy policies have not changed.
Legislation amending the privacy provisions of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act to exempt financial institutions from providing an annual privacy notice if they have not changed their privacy policies in the last year passed the House by voice vote. Introduced by Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-Mo), the Eliminate Privacy Notice Confusion Act, H.R. 749, is designed to reduce an unnecessary burden facing consumers and financial institutions alike.