Section 4051.5 Of Division 1.4. California Financial Information Privacy Act From California Financial Code >> Division 1.4.
4051.5
. (a) The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
(1) The California Constitution protects the privacy of California
citizens from unwarranted intrusions into their private and personal
lives.
(2) Federal banking legislation, known as the Gramm-Leach-Bliley
Act, which breaks down restrictions on affiliation among different
types of financial institutions, increases the likelihood that the
personal financial information of California residents will be widely
shared among, between, and within companies.
(3) The policies intended to protect financial privacy imposed by
the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act are inadequate to meet the privacy
concerns of California residents.
(4) Because of the limitations of these federal policies, the
Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act explicitly permits states to enact privacy
protections that are stronger than those provided in federal law.
(b) It is the intent of the Legislature in enacting this division:
(1) To ensure that Californians have the ability to control the
disclosure of what the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act calls nonpublic
personal information.
(2) To achieve that control for California consumers by requiring
that financial institutions that want to share information with third
parties and unrelated companies seek and acquire the affirmative
consent of California consumers prior to sharing the information.
(3) To further achieve that control for California consumers by
providing consumers with the ability to prevent the sharing of
financial information among affiliated companies through a simple
opt-out mechanism via a clear and understandable notice provided to
the consumer.
(4) To provide, to the maximum extent possible, consistent with
the purposes cited above, a level playing field among types and sizes
of businesses consistent with the objective of providing consumers
control over their nonpublic personal information, including
providing that those financial institutions with limited affiliate
relationships may enter into agreements with other financial
institutions as provided in this division, and providing that the
different business models of differing financial institutions are
treated in ways that provide consistent consumer control over
information-sharing practices.
(5) To adopt to the maximum extent feasible, consistent with the
purposes cited above, definitions consistent with federal law, so
that in particular there is no change in the ability of businesses to
carry out normal processes of commerce for transactions voluntarily
entered into by consumers.