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Privacy Choices 

for Your Personal Financial InformationYou’ve probably been receiving privacy nbanks and other financial companies. Theexplain: • What personal financial information the collects• Whether the company intends to share financial information with other companie• What you can do, if the company intendyour personal financial information, to limsharing• How the company protects your personinformation.

Financial companies share information for many reasons: to offer you more 

services, to introduce new products, and to profit from the information they have about you. If you like to know about other products and services, you may want your financial company to share your personal financial information; in this case, you don’t need to respond to the privacy notice. If you prefer to limit the promotions you receive or do not want marketers and others to have your personal financial information, you must take some important steps.

First, it is important to read these privacy notices. They explain how the company handles and shares your personal 

financial information. Keep in mind that not all privacy notices are the same. This guide tells you about the other steps you can take to help protect the privacy of your personal financial information.

• Service providers

—companies hired by your financial company to perform a specific service, such as 

printing your checks

• Joint marketers

—companies that have an agreement 

with your financial company to offer you other financial products or services

• Other third-party non-affiliates

—which could 

include companies that may want access to your financial company’s mailing list to tell you about other 

products and services.

Under the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, your financial 

company can provide your personal financial information to non-affiliated service providers including joint marketers. But before it shares your information with other thirdparty non-affiliates (outside of these exceptions), your financial company must tell you about its information sharing practices and give you the opportunity to opt out.

FRB1-xxx-0202

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What Can You Stop—

and What Can’t You Stop?Federal privacy laws give you the right to stop (opt out of) some sharing of your personal financial information. These laws balance your right to privacy with financial companies’ need to provide information for normal business purposes. You have the right to opt out of some information sharing with companies that are:

• Part of the same corporate group as your financial company (or affiliates)• Not part of the same corporate group as your financial company (or non-affiliates).

But, you cannot opt out and completely stop the flow of all your personal 

financial information. The law permits your financial companies to share certain information about you without giving you the right to opt out. Among other things, your financial company can provide to non-affiliates:• Information about you to firms that help promote and market the company’s 

own products or products offered under a joint agreement between two financial companies• Records of your transactions 

—such as 

your loan payments, credit card or debit card purchases, and checking and savings account statements

—to firms that 

provide data processing and mailing services for your company• Information about you in response to a court order• Your payment history on loans and credit cards to credit bureaus.

What Opting Out MeansIf you opt out, you limit the extent to which the company can provide your personal financial information to non-affiliates.

If you do not opt out within 

a “reasonable period of time”—generally about 30 days after the company mails the notice

—

then the company is free to share certain personal financial information.

If you didn’t opt out the first 

time you received a privacy notice from a financial company, it’s not too late. You can always change your mind and opt out of certain information sharing. Contact your financial company and ask for instructions on how to opt out.

Remember, however, that any 

personal financial information that was shared before you opted out cannot be retrieved.

Appendix More Information About the LawYour Personal Financial PrivacyTwo federal laws cover different aspects onies can share your financial information, this guide: The Fair Credit Reporting Act aLeach-Bliley Act.The Fair Credit Reporting Act protects of certain information distributed by consagencies (CRAs). Most CRAs are credit bgather and provide information about youyou pay your bills on time or have filed foto creditors and other businesses. Under bureaus and other CRAs can release youonly to those third parties that have certifhave a purpose permitted by the law to oconsumer report, such as to evaluate youfor credit, insurance, or employment, or to apartment.

When a financial company obtains you

from a credit bureau, it may want to share tion with an affiliate, meaning a company financial company, that your financial comthat is part of the same parent organizatiofamily. Under the Fair Credit Reporting Acif the financial company plans to share cetion

—for example, from your credit report 

application

—with its affiliates, it will usual

and give you an opportunity to opt out. Thlikely to be included in the privacy notice from the financial company under the GraBliley Act.The Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act requires fnies to tell you about their policies regardof your personal financial information. Wittions, the law limits the ability of financial to share your personal financial informatinon-affiliates. A non-affiliate is a company lated to your financial company, and may 

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finance companies, credit bureaus, nonbank lenders, auto dealers, 

leasing companies, appraisers, real estate settlement services, credit counseling services, and collection agency services

Consumer Response Center600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NWWashington, DC 20580877-FTC-HELP or 877-382-4357 toll-freewww.ftc.govalso see www.consumer.gov/idtheft/ 

National Credit Union AdministrationRegulates federally chartered credit unions

Office of Public and Congressional Affairs1775 Duke StreetAlexandria, VA 22314-3428703-518-6330www.ncua.gov

Office of the Comptroller of the CurrencyRegulates national banks, District of Columbia banks, federal branches and federal agencies of foreign banks, and subsidiaries of such entities. These typically include banks with “national” or “N.A.” in their names.

Customer Assistance Group1301 McKinney StreetSuite 3710Houston, TX 77010800-613-6743 toll-freewww.occ.treas.gov

Office of Thrift SupervisionRegulates federal savings and loan associations and federal savings banks

Consumer Programs1700 G Street, NWWashington, DC 20552800-842-6929 toll-freewww.ots.treas.gov

Securities and Exchange CommissionRegulates brokerage firms, mutual fund companies, and investment advisors

Office of Investor Education and Assistance450 5th Street, NW

Washington, DC 20549-0213202-942-9634 faxwww.sec.gov/complaint.shtml

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Your Right to Opt OutA privacy notice contains information abony’s data collection and information sharifinancial company does not plan to share tion except as permitted by law, the notice this; in this case, you don’t have a right to Non-affiliates. If you have the right to opif the company plans to share your informprivacy notice will include instructions on how to opt out of sharing some information. Unless you opt out, your financial company can provide your personal financial information (for example, information on the kinds of stores you shop at, how much you borrow, your account balances, or the dollar value of your assets) to non-affiliates for marketing and other purposes.Affiliates. The privacy notice may also gto opt out of certain information sharing wFor example, if a company intends to prowith personal information from your crediapplication, you will usually first be given to opt out. Companies, however, can shaabout you with affiliates when the informasolely on your transactions with that comtion information includes whether you pay time, the type of accounts you have with tand so forth). Read your notices carefully type of opt out applies.

If you want to opt out of information sh

follow the directions provided by your finaFor example, you may have to call a toll-ffill out a form and return the form to the c

In some cases, your financial company 

the choice to opt out of different types of example, you could opt out of certain catemation the company provides to other coallow the company to share other kinds o
Privacy Notices You May Receive

Initial Privacy Notice. You will usually receive a privacy notice when you open an account or become a customer of a financial company. If you open an account over the phone, however, and you agree, the company may send you a notice at a later time. Annual Privacy Notices. Each financial company you have an ongoing relationship with

—for example, the 

bank where you have a checking account, your credit card company, or a company that services your loan

—

must give you a notice of its privacy policy annually.Notice of Changes in Privacy Policies. If a company changes its privacy policy, it will either send you a revised privacy notice or tell you about the changes in the company’s next annual notice. 

A privacy notice may be included as an insert with 

your monthly statement or bill, or it may be sent to you in a separate mailing. If you agree to electronic delivery from an on-line financial company, the notice may be sent to you by e-mail or it may be made available to you on the company’s web site. 

If you have more than one account with the same 

company, the company may send you only one privacy notice for all of your accounts or it may send you separate notices for each of your accounts.

If you have a joint account with another person (for 

example, a joint checking account or a mortgage loan), the financial company may send a notice to one of you or to each person listed on the account. If the company provides an opportunity to opt out, it must let one of the account holders opt out for all joint account holders. 

What to Do When You Receive Your Notices• Read all privacy notices.• Get answers to your questions from your financial company.

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• If applicable, decide whether you want • If you want to opt out, follow the instrucnotice

—and, if necessary, shop around fo

institution with the privacy policy you wanWhere Else to Turn for HelpIf you have questions or concerns about privacy policy, first contact that company still have questions about your privacy rigwith a financial company, you can contacstate agency that oversees that type of coBoard of Governors of the Federal Reserve SystRegulates state-chartered banks that are members Reserve System, bank holding companies, and brabanks

Division of Consumer and Community Affairs, S20th and C Streets, NW

Washington, DC 20551202-452-3693www.federalreserve.gov

Commodity Futures Trading CommissionRegulates commodity brokers, commodity trading apools, and introducing brokers

Privacy Officer, Office of Chief CounselDivision of Trading and MarketsThree Lafayette Center1155 21st Street, NW

Washington, DC 20581202-418-5430www.cftc.gov

Federal Deposit Insurance CorporationRegulates state-chartered banks that are not membReserve System

Division of Compliance and Consumer Affairs550 17th Street, NW

Washington, DC 20429877-ASK-FDIC or 877-275-3342 toll-freewww.fdic.gov

Federal Trade CommissionRegulates any financial company not covered by thregulators such as mortgage brokers, tax and inves