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Kokua Line June Watanabe |
Errors abound in e-mail
about personal dataQuestion: I received an e-mail forwarded from a friend on the mainland saying that, under a new law that was recently passed, personal information goes public starting July 1, 2003. The four major credit bureaus in the United States will be allowed to release credit information, mailing addresses, phone numbers, etc., to anyone who requests it.
If you do not want to be included in this release of personal information, you can call 1-888-567-8688. The e-mail said, "Because the liberal media is not headlining this, it is important that you forward this information to as many as you can and let each individual decide the fate of their personal and confidential information." Can you shed some light on this?
Answer: Apparently this scare information, which first surfaced two years ago, is still making its e-mail rounds.
As we reported in our Aug. 7, 2001, column, the Federal Trade Commission warned consumers that the e-mail contained half-truths and misinformation relating to two separate federal laws -- the Fair Credit Reporting Act and the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act.
Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, credit bureaus can release credit information only to those with a legitimate business need, such as companies to which you are applying for credit, insurance, employment or to rent an apartment.
Also, "lenders and insurers may use information in your credit file as a basis for sending you unsolicited offers. This is known as 'pre-screening,'" according to the FTC.
Calling the toll-free number cited, 1-888-567-8688, allows you to "opt out" of pre-screened offers by the major credit bureaus only.
The Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, a nonprofit consumer education, research and advocacy program, issued its own news release in July 2001 warning people about the erroneous e-mail.
"The Financial Services Modernization Act, also known as Gramm-Leach-Bliley, requires financial institutions to notify all their customers by July 1, 2001, of their own privacy policies," the clearinghouse said. "If the bank, credit card company, insurance company, or brokerage firm sells customer data to third-party companies, it must provide its customers the ability to say 'no' to such data sharing -- in other words, to 'opt-out.'"
You can contact your financial institution(s) any time to opt out, according to the FTC.
For a more complete explanation of what's correct and not correct about the e-mail being sent, check the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse Web site -- www.privacyrights.org/fs/fs6-crdt.htm.
Mahalo
To Fonda, an angel who gave this senior woman a ride home as I was walking away from my car that had a flat, flat tire on the evening of April 24. Because of being stressed and distraught, I failed to get more information to do a more personal thank you. This random act of kindness could only have happened in Hawaii. May she have many blessings throughout her life. -- Grateful in Kaneohe
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