FCC Crackdown On Lax Privacy Opt-Outs

In a warning directed at the financial industry – a sector that is broadly defined by the Federal Communications Commission – Thomson Reuters writer Julie DiMauro points to a recent $7.4 million settlement between the Commission and Verizon, over Verizon’s alleged misuse of customer personal information to target its own marketing efforts. Verizon was accused of failing to provide proper notice to customers that would allow them to opt out, and then targeting them for years. This settlement should serve as a wake up call to the financial industry, which has its own set of privacy strictures defined under the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act.