Protect Personal Financial Privacy Your bank, insurer, and credit providers are selling sensitive and detailed financial information about you. This now widespread practice, while lucrative for the financial corporations, creates unnecessary risk and hardship for consumers. SB 1 can change this by creating strong, sensible protections that give you greater control over how your financial information is used. Sample Letter for Campaign Subject: Support SB 1: Give Consumers Control Over Their Own Private Financial Information Dear [ Decision Maker ] , As your constituent and someone who is deeply concerned about the way financial companies sell and profit from my personal information, I write to ask you to support the California Financial Information Privacy Act, (SB 1, Speier). This act provides Californians with greater control over their private financial information through strong and sensible "opt-in" and "opt-out" mechanisms. Current laws lead to: --Increased risk of identity theft. --Proliferation of factual errors leading to denial of crucial services such as insurance and mortgages. --Higher prices for some consumers based on profiles created using this information. --Unwanted charges for services and products due to bank or credit card companies pre-authorizing charges to consumer accounts by marketers with whom they contract. --Added expenses in dealing with telemarketing (caller ID, unlisted numbers), junk mail and spam. Consumers know that current laws are too weak to protect them. A February 2002 statewide poll by Evans McDonough Company, Inc., revealed that 79% of Californians were "not at all comfortable" with the sale of information about their finances and 62% agreed that existing privacy laws are "not strict enough." Please support SB 1. Californians want stronger control over their private information. Sincerely,

Campaign Launched: April 30, 2003

Background Information

Senator Jackie Speier's California Financial Information Privacy Act (SB 1) will give you greater control over how financial information about you is used and will establish civil penalties for companies that violate the law. Despite overwhelming public support for financial privacy protection, massive financial conglomerates like Wells Fargo, Citigroup, Morgan Stanley, J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., Bank of America, and other groups like the Health Insurance Association of America are lobbying against SB 1. Selling personal information is a lucrative business for financial corporations. However, current practices are unfair and potentially dangerous for consumers.

THE INFORMATION SOLD IS OF A HIGHLY SENSITIVE NATURE: The databases sold with your personal information include not only personal and account information but also "transaction and experiential data." For instance,

• the size of your account balance
• your net worth
• records of the frequency and size of your deposits
• your credit card use details
• records of your purchases
• your payment history
• your finance charges
• your current debt levels
• the names of co-owners of those accounts.

COMPANIES ENGAGE IN FREEWHEELING EXCHANGE OF INFORMATION: This sensitive information is sold not only to other banks but also to marketing firms and other retail and sales companies creating the possibility of abuses.

CURRENT PRACTICES CREATE DANGER AND HARDSHIP FOR CONSUMERS: while lucrative for the financial companies, current practices can cause potentially disastrous problems for consumers:

• Increased risk of IDENTITY THEFT;
• Proliferation of factual errors leading to DENIAL OF CRUCIAL SERVICES such as insurance and mortgages;
• HIGHER PRICES for some consumers based on profiles created using this information;
• UNWANTED CHARGES for services and products due to bank or credit card companies pre-authorizing charges to consumer accounts by marketers with whom they contract;
• ADDED EXPENSES and wasted time in dealing with telemarketing (caller ID, unlisted numbers), junk mail and spam.

SB 1 provides a number of mechanisms to protect your financial information:

• OPT-IN: Your financial institution will be required to get your authorization to share or sell your personal and financial information with third party companies with whom they have no contract.
• OPT-OUT: Your financial institution will be required to offer you a chance to prohibit the sharing or selling of your personal and financial information with their affiliates or other financial institutions with whom they have agreements.
• CONSENT VERIFICATION: Your financial institution will have to take reasonable steps to insure that those from whom it obtains personal and financial information about you have followed similar consent and notice rules.
• CIVIL PENALTIES: It establishes civil penalties for violation of the law: $2500 for each violation, capped at $500,000. Fines can be doubled when violations lead to identity theft.

To read more about SB 1, go to California's legislation information website at http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/