Dianne Feinstein: “I have decided to vote against the National Consumer Credit Reporting System Improvement Act because, bottom line, this…”

“I have decided to vote against the National Consumer Credit Reporting System Improvement Act because, bottom line, this bill reduces the privacy rights of 36 million Californians. These rights were obtained through the passage of landmark legislation sponsored by Senator Jackie Speier earlier this year in California, which gave consumers the right to tell financial institutions that they don't want their most sensitive personal information shared with hundreds or even thousands of affiliated companies. This practice--affiliate sharing--can include your most sensitive information--the stocks you own, the certificates of deposit you hold, or the amount of money in your checking account. Importantly, California's financial industry signed off on Senator Speier's bill, rather than face a ballot initiative, which likely would have succeeded. Industry executives said at the time that the California bill 'encompasses all aspects of the workability needed to ensure protection of customers' privacy' and that it is 'a workable, reasonable compromise.' In fact, the only major reservation expressed about that provision was that the bill did not represent a national standard. But now, given the opportunity to set such a national standard, these same companies worked to wipe out such protections--and I find this conduct particularly concerning.”