The Gramm Leach Bliley Act became part of federal law in 1999. Congress passed this law and it was signed by then President Bill Clinton in response to a need for greater security of information in financial settings. The Gramm Leach Bliley Act is commonly referred to GLBA and is designed to protect financial institutions and their customers from abusing the privileges inherent in their very intimate and confidential relationship.

Info On the Gramm Leach Bliley Act Of 1999

The Gramm Leach Bliley Act is a law like any other, so its language is both technical and intricate. The legal nature of the language can make it difficult to understand, but it is available on line for public review if you so desire. I will attempt to spell out the basics of the law here in plain English so that anyone can understand what it says.

Basically, what this law does is to make an effort to protect customers' very private and very personal information from misuse. Financial information that can be used to identify you as an individual is protected. The definition describes this as information expressly given to the institution by the customer, or information obtained during the transaction of a business service by the financial institution, or "otherwise obtained by the financial institution."

The Gramm Leach Bliley Act is intended to protect your privacy by reducing unauthorized access to "nonpublic personal information" that might result in harm done to the customer or other inconvenience. This law extends to the realm of speech privacy as well. Similar laws now exist to protect conversational privacy in the health care field. Know your rights. Study these laws to protect yourself and the ones you love.