WASHINGTON—The Privacy Notice Modernization Act has been introduced in the Senate, joining a companion bill already in the House.
Sponsored by Sens. Jerry Moran (R-KS) and Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND), the legislation, which has the backing of CUNA, seeks to reduce the credit union regulatory burden and enhance consumer protection by amending the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act to require credit unions to send privacy notices to existing members only when the credit union changes its privacy policy. The privacy policy would also be available to members on demand and on the credit unions’ website.
“The fact is that an annual privacy notice requirement is unnecessary, costly and confusing to our members,” said CUNA President Jim Nussle, in a statement. “Requiring the notice to be mailed only when the policy is changed will make the notice more meaningful to credit unions and their members. I thank Senators Moran and Heitkamp for their leadership on this important issue.”
Representatives Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-MO) and Brad Sherman (D-CA) have already introduced a companion bill in the U.S. House, the Eliminate Privacy Notice Confusion Act. This legislation was previously introduced in the 112th and 113th Congresses, it passed the House of Representatives by voice vote. It also had 76 bipartisan cosponsors in the Senate, but ultimately was not passed.