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When we worry about who might be spying on our private lives, we usually think about the Federal agents. But the private sector outdoes the government every time. It’s Linda Tripp, not the FBI, who is facing charges under Maryland’s laws against secret telephone taping. It’s our banks, not the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), that pass our private financial data to telemarketing firms.
Consumer activists are pressing Congress for better privacy laws without much result so far. The legislators lean towards letting business people track our financial habits virtually at will. As an example of what’ s going on, consider US Bancorp, which was recently sued for deceptive practices by the state of Minnesota. According to the lawsuit, the bank supplied a telemarketer called Member Works with sensitive customer data such as names, phone numbers, bank account and credit card numbers, Social Security numbers, account balances and credit limits. With these customer lists in hand, Member Works started dialing for dollars -- selling dental plans, videogames, computer software and other products and services. Customers who accepted a "free trial offer" had 30 days to cancel. If the deadline passed, they were charged automatically through their bank or credit-card accounts. US Bancorp collected a share of the revenues.
The state sued Member Works separately for deceptive selling. The company denies that it did anything wrong. For its part, US Bancorp settled without admitting any mistakes. But it agreed to stop exposing its customers to nonfinancial products sold by outside firms. A few top banks decided to do the same. Many other banks will still do business with Member Works and similar firms. And banks will still be mining data from your account in order to sell you financial products, including things of little value, such as credit insurance and credit card protection plans.
You have almost no protection from businesses that use your personal accounts for profit. For example, no federal law shields "transaction and experience" information -- mainly the details of your bank and credit card accounts. Social Security numbers are for sale by private firms. They ’ ve generally agreed not to sell to the public. But to businesses, the numbers are an open book.
The state of Minnesota is considering drawing up laws to protect private information.