§ 6821. — Privacy protection for customer information of financial institutions.
[Laws in effect as of January 24, 2002]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
January 24, 2002 and December 19, 2002]
[CITE: 15USC6821]
TITLE 15--COMMERCE AND TRADE
CHAPTER 94--PRIVACY
SUBCHAPTER II--FRAUDULENT ACCESS TO FINANCIAL INFORMATION
Sec. 6821. Privacy protection for customer information of
financial institutions
(a) Prohibition on obtaining customer information by false pretenses
It shall be a violation of this subchapter for any person to obtain
or attempt to obtain, or cause to be disclosed or attempt to cause to be
disclosed to any person, customer information of a financial institution
relating to another person--
(1) by making a false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement or
representation to an officer, employee, or agent of a financial
institution;
(2) by making a false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement or
representation to a customer of a financial institution; or
(3) by providing any document to an officer, employee, or agent
of a financial institution, knowing that the document is forged,
counterfeit, lost, or stolen, was fraudulently obtained, or contains
a false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement or representation.
(b) Prohibition on solicitation of a person to obtain customer
information from financial institution under false pretenses
It shall be a violation of this subchapter to request a person to
obtain customer information of a financial institution, knowing that the
person will obtain, or attempt to obtain, the information from the
institution in any manner described in subsection (a) of this section.
(c) Nonapplicability to law enforcement agencies
No provision of this section shall be construed so as to prevent any
action by a law enforcement agency, or any officer, employee, or agent
of such agency, to obtain customer information of a financial
institution in connection with the performance of the official duties of
the agency.
(d) Nonapplicability to financial institutions in certain cases
No provision of this section shall be construed so as to prevent any
financial institution, or any officer, employee, or agent of a financial
institution, from obtaining customer information of such financial
institution in the course of--
(1) testing the security procedures or systems of such
institution for maintaining the confidentiality of customer
information;
(2) investigating allegations of misconduct or negligence on the
part of any officer, employee, or agent of the financial
institution; or
(3) recovering customer information of the financial institution
which was obtained or received by another person in any manner
described in subsection (a) or (b) of this section.
(e) Nonapplicability to insurance institutions for investigation of
insurance fraud
No provision of this section shall be construed so as to prevent any
insurance institution, or any officer, employee, or agency of an
insurance institution, from obtaining information as part of an
insurance investigation into criminal activity, fraud, material
misrepresentation, or material nondisclosure that is authorized for such
institution under State law, regulation, interpretation, or order.
(f) Nonapplicability to certain types of customer information of
financial institutions
No provision of this section shall be construed so as to prevent any
person from obtaining customer information of a financial institution
that otherwise is available as a public record filed pursuant to the
securities laws (as defined in section 78c(a)(47) of this title).
(g) Nonapplicability to collection of child support judgments
No provision of this section shall be construed to prevent any
State-licensed private investigator, or any officer, employee, or agent
of such private investigator, from obtaining customer information of a
financial institution, to the extent reasonably necessary to collect
child support from a person adjudged to have been delinquent in his or
her obligations by a Federal or State court, and to the extent that such
action by a State-licensed private investigator is not unlawful under
any other Federal or State law or regulation, and has been authorized by
an order or judgment of a court of competent jurisdiction.
(Pub. L. 106-102, title V, Sec. 521, Nov. 12, 1999, 113 Stat. 1446.)
Section Referred to in Other Sections
This section is referred to in sections 6823, 6825 of this title.
