--- See also: http://www.thestandard.com/article/0,1902,24284,00.html --- "Judge Upholds Tough New Restrictions on Sales of Certain Personal-Credit Data" Wall Street Journal (05/08/01) P. A28; Simpson, Glenn R. Effective July 1, consumer data firms must get permission from consumers before selling their credit data, including names, addresses, phone numbers, and Social Security numbers, according to an April 30 ruling from Judge Ellen Segal Huvelle. The judge's ruling clarifies a vague passage in the 1999 Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act that places restrictions on the trade of "personally identifiable financial information." Huvelle's ruling affirms the government's position that the header and all other parts of a credit report fall under the scope of this passage. The credit industry had been arguing that names, addresses, and other personal data did not qualify as "personally identifiable financial information." Indeed, Huvelle said that the passage was ambiguous but ruled nonetheless that lawmakers had crafted the bill to provide "especially broad privacy protections." Direct Marketing Association spokesman Lou Mastria warned that the ruling would hit marketers hard in the pocket book. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- POLITECH -- Declan McCullagh's politics and technology mailing list You may redistribute this message freely if it remains intact. To subscribe, visit http://www.politechbot.com/info/subscribe.html This message is archived at http://www.politechbot.com/ -------------------------------------------------------------------------
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