4053
. (a) (1) A financial institution shall not disclose to, or
share a consumer's nonpublic personal information with, any
nonaffiliated third party as prohibited by Section 4052.5, unless the
financial institution has obtained a consent acknowledgment from the
consumer that complies with paragraph (2) that authorizes the
financial institution to disclose or share the nonpublic personal
information. Nothing in this section shall prohibit or otherwise
apply to the disclosure of nonpublic personal information as allowed
in Section 4056. A financial institution shall not discriminate
against or deny an otherwise qualified consumer a financial product
or a financial service because the consumer has not provided consent
pursuant to this subdivision and Section 4052.5 to authorize the
financial institution to disclose or share nonpublic personal
information pertaining to him or her with any nonaffiliated third
party. Nothing in this section shall prohibit a financial institution
from denying a consumer a financial product or service if the
financial institution could not provide the product or service to a
consumer without the consent to disclose the consumer's nonpublic
personal information required by this subdivision and Section 4052.5,
and the consumer has failed to provide consent. A financial
institution shall not be liable for failing to offer products and
services to a consumer solely because that consumer has failed to
provide consent pursuant to this subdivision and Section 4052.5 and
the financial institution could not offer the product or service
without the consent to disclose the consumer's nonpublic personal
information required by this subdivision and Section 4052.5, and the
consumer has failed to provide consent. Nothing in this section is
intended to prohibit a financial institution from offering incentives
or discounts to elicit a specific response to the notice.
(2) A financial institution shall utilize a form, statement, or
writing to obtain consent to disclose nonpublic personal information
to nonaffiliated third parties as required by Section 4052.5 and this
subdivision. The form, statement, or writing shall meet all of the
following criteria:
(A) The form, statement, or writing is a separate document, not
attached to any other document.
(B) The form, statement, or writing is dated and signed by the
consumer.
(C) The form, statement, or writing clearly and conspicuously
discloses that by signing, the consumer is consenting to the
disclosure to nonaffiliated third parties of nonpublic personal
information pertaining to the consumer.
(D) The form, statement, or writing clearly and conspicuously
discloses (i) that the consent will remain in effect until revoked or
modified by the consumer; (ii) that the consumer may revoke the
consent at any time; and (iii) the procedure for the consumer to
revoke consent.
(E) The form, statement, or writing clearly and conspicuously
informs the consumer that (i) the financial institution will maintain
the document or a true and correct copy; (ii) the consumer is
entitled to a copy of the document upon request; and (iii) the
consumer may want to make a copy of the document for the consumer's
records.
(b) (1) A financial institution shall not disclose to, or share a
consumer's nonpublic personal information with, an affiliate unless
the financial institution has clearly and conspicuously notified the
consumer annually in writing pursuant to subdivision (d) that the
nonpublic personal information may be disclosed to an affiliate of
the financial institution and the consumer has not directed that the
nonpublic personal information not be disclosed. A financial
institution does not disclose information to, or share information
with, its affiliate merely because information is maintained in
common information systems or databases, and employees of the
financial institution and its affiliate have access to those common
information systems or databases, or a consumer accesses a Web site
jointly operated or maintained under a common name by or on behalf of
the financial institution and its affiliate, provided that where a
consumer has exercised his or her right to prohibit disclosure
pursuant to this division, nonpublic personal information is not
further disclosed or used by an affiliate except as permitted by this
division.
(2) Subdivision (a) shall not prohibit the release of nonpublic
personal information by a financial institution with whom the
consumer has a relationship to a nonaffiliated financial institution
for purposes of jointly offering a financial product or financial
service pursuant to a written agreement with the financial
institution that receives the nonpublic personal information provided
that all of the following requirements are met:
(A) The financial product or service offered is a product or
service of, and is provided by, at least one of the financial
institutions that is a party to the written agreement.
(B) The financial product or service is jointly offered, endorsed,
or sponsored, and clearly and conspicuously identifies for the
consumer the financial institutions that disclose and receive the
disclosed nonpublic personal information.
(C) The written agreement provides that the financial institution
that receives that nonpublic personal information is required to
maintain the confidentiality of the information and is prohibited
from disclosing or using the information other than to carry out the
joint offering or servicing of a financial product or financial
service that is the subject of the written agreement.
(D) The financial institution that releases the nonpublic personal
information has complied with subdivision (d) and the consumer has
not directed that the nonpublic personal information not be
disclosed.
(E) Notwithstanding this section, until January 1, 2005, a
financial institution may disclose nonpublic personal information to
a nonaffiliated financial institution pursuant to a preexisting
contract with the nonaffiliated financial institution, for purposes
of offering a financial product or financial service, if that
contract was entered into on or before January 1, 2004. Beginning on
January 1, 2005, no nonpublic personal information may be disclosed
pursuant to that contract unless all the requirements of this
subdivision are met.
(3) Nothing in this subdivision shall prohibit a financial
institution from disclosing or sharing nonpublic personal information
as otherwise specifically permitted by this division.
(4) A financial institution shall not discriminate against or deny
an otherwise qualified consumer a financial product or a financial
service because the consumer has directed pursuant to this
subdivision that nonpublic personal information pertaining to him or
her not be disclosed. A financial institution shall not be required
to offer or provide products or services offered through affiliated
entities or jointly with nonaffiliated financial institutions
pursuant to paragraph (2) where the consumer has directed that
nonpublic personal information not be disclosed pursuant to this
subdivision and the financial institution could not offer or provide
the products or services to the consumer without disclosure of the
consumer's nonpublic personal information that the consumer has
directed not be disclosed pursuant to this subdivision. A financial
institution shall not be liable for failing to offer or provide
products or services offered through affiliated entities or jointly
with nonaffiliated financial institutions pursuant to paragraph (2)
solely because the consumer has directed that nonpublic personal
information not be disclosed pursuant to this subdivision and the
financial institution could not offer or provide the products or
services to the consumer without disclosure of the consumer's
nonpublic personal information that the consumer has directed not be
disclosed to affiliates pursuant to this subdivision. Nothing in this
section is intended to prohibit a financial institution from
offering incentives or discounts to elicit a specific response to the
notice set forth in this division. Nothing in this section shall
prohibit the disclosure of nonpublic personal information allowed by
Section 4056.
(5) The financial institution may, at its option, choose instead
to comply with the requirements of subdivision (a).
(c) Nothing in this division shall restrict or prohibit the
sharing of nonpublic personal information between a financial
institution and its wholly owned financial institution subsidiaries;
among financial institutions that are each wholly owned by the same
financial institution; among financial institutions that are wholly
owned by the same holding company; or among the insurance and
management entities of a single insurance holding company system
consisting of one or more reciprocal insurance exchanges which has a
single corporation or its wholly owned subsidiaries providing
management services to the reciprocal insurance exchanges, provided
that in each case all of the following requirements are met:
(1) The financial institution disclosing the nonpublic personal
information and the financial institution receiving it are regulated
by the same functional regulator; provided, however, that for
purposes of this subdivision, financial institutions regulated by the
Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, Office of Thrift
Supervision, National Credit Union Administration, or a state
regulator of depository institutions shall be deemed to be regulated
by the same functional regulator; financial institutions regulated by
the Securities and Exchange Commission, the United States Department
of Labor, or a state securities regulator shall be deemed to be
regulated by the same functional regulator; and insurers admitted in
this state to transact insurance and licensed to write insurance
policies shall be deemed to be in compliance with this paragraph.
(2) The financial institution disclosing the nonpublic personal
information and the financial institution receiving it are both
principally engaged in the same line of business. For purposes of
this subdivision, "same line of business" shall be one and only one
of the following:
(A) Insurance.
(B) Banking.
(C) Securities.
(3) The financial institution disclosing the nonpublic personal
information and the financial institution receiving it share a common
brand, excluding a brand consisting solely of a graphic element or
symbol, within their trademark, service mark, or trade name, which is
used to identify the source of the products and services provided.
A wholly owned subsidiary shall include a subsidiary wholly owned
directly or wholly owned indirectly in a chain of wholly owned
subsidiaries.
Nothing in this subdivision shall permit the disclosure by a
financial institution of medical record information, as defined in
Section 791.02 of the Insurance Code, except in compliance with the
requirements of this division, including the requirements set forth
in subdivisions (a) and (b).
(d) (1) A financial institution shall be conclusively presumed to
have satisfied the notice requirements of subdivision (b) if it uses
the form set forth in this subdivision. The form set forth in this
subdivision or a form that complies with subparagraphs (A) to (L),
inclusive, of this paragraph shall be sent by the financial
institution to the consumer so that the consumer may make a decision
and provide direction to the financial institution regarding the
sharing of his or her nonpublic personal information. If a financial
institution does not use the form set forth in this subdivision, the
financial institution shall use a form that meets all of the
following requirements:
(A) The form uses the same title ("IMPORTANT PRIVACY CHOICES FOR
CONSUMERS") and the headers, if applicable, as follows: "Restrict
Information Sharing With Companies We Own Or Control (Affiliates)"
and "Restrict Information Sharing With Other Companies We Do Business
With To Provide Financial Products And Services."
(B) The titles and headers in the form are clearly and
conspicuously displayed, and no text in the form is smaller than
10-point type.
(C) The form is a separate document, except as provided by
subparagraph (D) of paragraph (2), and Sections 4054 and 4058.7.
(D) The choice or choices pursuant to subdivision (b) and Section
4054.6, if applicable, provided in the form are stated separately and
may be selected by checking a box.
(E) The form is designed to call attention to the nature and
significance of the information in the document.
(F) The form presents information in clear and concise sentences,
paragraphs, and sections.
(G) The form uses short explanatory sentences (an average of 15-20
words) or bullet lists whenever possible.
(H) The form avoids multiple negatives, legal terminology, and
highly technical terminology whenever possible.
(I) The form avoids explanations that are imprecise and readily
subject to different interpretations.
(J) The form achieves a minimum Flesch reading ease score of 50,
as defined in Section 2689.4(a)(7) of Title 10 of the California Code
of Regulations, in effect on March 24, 2003, except that the
information in the form included to comply with subparagraph (A)
shall not be included in the calculation of the Flesch reading ease
score, and the information used to describe the choice or choices
pursuant to subparagraph (D) shall score no lower than the
information describing the comparable choice or choices set forth in
the form in this subdivision.
(K) The form provides wide margins, ample line spacing and uses
boldface or italics for key words.
(L) The form is not more than one page.
(2) (A) None of the instructional items appearing in brackets in
the form set forth in this subdivision shall appear in the form
provided to the consumer, as those items are for explanation purposes
only. If a financial institution does not disclose or share
nonpublic personal information as described in a header of the form,
the financial institution may omit the applicable header or headers,
and the accompanying information and box, in the form it provides
pursuant to this subdivision. The form with those omissions shall be
conclusively presumed to satisfy the notice requirements of this
subdivision.