Ask those you do business with whether they share, sell, or trade customer information. Be an educated and selective consumer. Understand that your private information may not be as private as you think it is. Take the time to talk with your children about when not to tell people their name, address, telephone number, age, and other important information. We all know that telemarketing has gotten out of hand.
People are no longer merely inconvenienced by the occasional phone call during dinner.
With the fast-forward nature of the information age, confidential information has become like currency. Congressman Luther believes this information is inherently yours, and each and every individual should have the right to say No to its release. Congressman Bill Luther recently waged an all out effort to protect individual privacy rights in the Financial Services Modernization Act. Unfortunately, this legislation was lobbied by so many special interests that it passed the House and Senate without giving consumers the right to object to releasing their private financial information except in limited instances. Reflecting on the difficulty of fighting the powerful interest groups pushing the legislation, Luther reminded his fellow members of Congress of their solemn responsibility to look out for the public interest.