The U.S. House of Representatives advanced a bill last week that would exempt lenders from a requirement to send annual privacy notices to consumers when no changes have been made to their policies.
The bill was approved by a vote of 275-146 and now goes before the Senate. The National Association of Federally Insured Credit Unions is among the groups that favor the legislation.
Under the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, financial institutions are required to provide consumers with annual notices on policies for sharing their information with third parties.
In 2015, as part of a transportation authorization bill, relief measures on privacy notices were signed into law by President Barack Obama. The law says consumers will receive privacy notices only after opening a new account and when their providers’ privacy policies change.
The bill that passed in the House last week, the Privacy Notification Technical Clarification Act (H.R. 2396), expands that exemption from sending annual privacy notices to consumers. With this measure, financial institutions can post privacy notices on their websites. If consumers want the hard copies sent to them, they can request it by mail or telephone.
Companies are required, however, to “conspicuously” notify consumers of the availability of the policy on the website through the billing statement.