WASHINGTON–America’s Credit Unions is expressing strong support for the American Privacy Rights Act of 2024, but that support comes with some caveats.
“America's Credit Unions does strongly support having a federal standard in place relative to privacy standards,” said Chief Advocacy Officer Carrie Hunt. “Currently there's been a patchwork of state laws that cover this area. We saw a law coming out of California that was extremely pro consumer and we've had varying other pieces of legislation in the past few years, including some which contain exemptions for regulated financial institutions including credit unions.”
‘Devil is in the Details
But as Hunt noted the “devil is in the details” and the trade group sees as positives in the legislation the fact that this legislation addresses both privacy and how information is used, as well as data security.
It also seeks to clarify whether or not there is a private right of action relative to enforcing this law.
While having a uniform standard is a great first step, Hunt said ACU’s concerns include that there is a limited exemption in the draft legislation relative to institutions that comply with the provisions of Gramm Leach Bliley, as credit unions do, related to data privacy.
Another concern is that the rules apply to everyone, according to Hunt.
Uniform Standards Supported
“America's Credit Unions strongly supports all merchants in our country having to follow the same data standards credit unions do, because we firmly believe that we need to have universal protections across the entire ecosystem in order for to reduce those fraud costs,” Hunt said. “We also consistently have concerns with private rights of action, not because we think consumers shouldn't have a private right of action, but time and time again we see that plaintiffs’ attorneys filing this litigation, which cost credit not just time but also money.”
Potential Deal
Legislation requiring merchants to meet data standards is often strongly opposed by retailers, but Hunt said she believes there is room to find agreement on a federal standard.
Hunt also acknowledged there are a limited number of legislative days left in the calendar before the national elections, which will challenge any progress on the bill.
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