FDIC Federal Register Citations

[Federal Register: December 30, 2003 (Volume 68, Number 249)]

[Proposed Rules]

[Page 75164-75174]

From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

[DOCID:fr30de03-22]

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DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY

Office of the Comptroller of the Currency

12 CFR Part 40

[Docket No. 03-27]

FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM

12 CFR Part 216

[Docket No. R-1173]

FEDERAL DEPOSIT INSURANCE CORPORATION

12 CFR Part 332

RIN 3064-AC77

DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY

Office of Thrift Supervision

12 CFR Part 573

[Docket No. 2003-62]

RIN 1550-AB86

NATIONAL CREDIT UNION ADMINISTRATION

12 CFR Part 716

FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION

16 CFR Part 313

RIN 3084-AA94 Project No. 034815

COMMODITY FUTURES TRADING COMMISSION

17 CFR Part 160

RIN 3038-AC04

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

17 CFR Part 248

[Release Nos. 34-48966, IA-2206, IC-26316; File No. S7-30-03]

RIN 3235-AJ06

Interagency Proposal to Consider Alternative Forms of Privacy

Notices Under the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act

AGENCIES: Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, Treasury (OCC);

Office of Thrift Supervision, Treasury (OTS); Board of Governors of the

Federal Reserve System (Board); Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation

(FDIC); National Credit Union Administration (NCUA); Federal Trade

Commission (FTC); Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC); and

Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

ACTION: Advance notice of proposed rulemaking.

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SUMMARY: The OCC, OTS, Board, FDIC, NCUA, FTC, CFTC, and SEC (the

Agencies) are requesting comment on whether the Agencies should

consider amending the regulations that implement sections 502 and 503

of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLB Act) to allow or require financial

institutions to provide alternative types of privacy notices, such as a

short privacy notice, that would be easier for consumers to understand.

DATES: Comments must be submitted on or before March 29, 2004.

ADDRESSES: Because the Agencies will jointly review all of the comments

submitted, interested parties may send comments to any of the Agencies

and need not send comments (or copies) to all of the Agencies.

Commenters that submit trade secrets or confidential commercial or

financial information may request confidential treatment of that

information in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act (5 U.S.C.

552) and the Agencies' respective regulations regarding availability of

information. Because paper mail in the Washington area and at the

Agencies is subject to delay, please consider submitting your comments

by e-mail. Commenters are encouraged to use the title ``Alternative

Forms of Privacy Notices'' to facilitate the organization and

distribution of comments among the Agencies. Interested parties are

invited to submit written comments to:

Office of the Comptroller of the Currency: Public Information Room,

Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, 250 E Street, SW., Mail stop

1-5, Washington, DC 20219, Attention: Docket No. 03-27, Fax number

(202) 874-4448 or Internet address: regs.comments@occ.treas.gov.

Comments may be inspected and photocopied at the OCC's Public

Information Room, 250 E Street, SW., Washington, DC. You can make an

appointment to inspect the comments by calling (202) 874-5043.

Office of Thrift Supervision: Send comments to Regulation Comments,

Chief Counsel's Office, Office of Thrift Supervision, 1700 G Street,

NW., Washington, DC 20552, Attention: No. 2003-62. Delivery: Hand

deliver comments to the Guard's Desk, East Lobby Entrance, 1700 G

Street, NW., from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on business days, Attention:

Regulation Comments, Chief Counsel's Office, Attention: No. 2003-62.

Facsimiles: Send facsimile transmissions to FAX Number (202) 906-6518,

Attention: No. 2003-62. E-

[[Page 75165]]

Mail: Send e-mails to regs.comments@ots. treas.gov, Attention: No.

2003-62 and include your name and telephone number. Due to temporary

disruptions in mail service in the Washington, DC area, commenters are

encouraged to send comments by fax or e-mail, if possible. Availability

of comments: OTS will post comments and the related index on the OTS

Internet Site at http://www.ots.treas.gov. In addition, you may inspect

comments at the Public Reading Room, 1700 G Street, NW., by

appointment. To make an appointment for access, call (202) 906-5922,

send an e-mail to public.info@ots.treas.gov, or send a facsimile

transmission to (202) 906-7755. (Please identify the materials you

would like to inspect to assist us in serving you.) We schedule

appointments on business days between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. In most cases,

appointments will be available the business day after the date we

receive a request.

Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System: Comments should

refer to Docket No. R-1173 and may be mailed to Ms. Jennifer J.

Johnson, Secretary, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System,

20th Street and Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20551. Please

federalreserve.gov, or faxing them to the Office of the Secretary at

(202) 452-3819 or (202) 452-3102. Members of the public may inspect

comments in Room MP-500 between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. on weekdays pursuant

to section 261.12, except as provided in section 261.14, of the Board's

Rules Regarding Availability of Information, 12 CFR 261.12 and 261.14.

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation: Send written comments to

Robert E. Feldman, Executive Secretary, Attention: Comments/Executive

Secretary Section, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, 550 17th

Street, NW., Washington, DC 20429. Comments also may be mailed

electronically to comments@FDIC.gov. Comments may be hand delivered to

the guard station at the rear of the 17th Street building (located on F

Street) on business days between 7 a.m. and 5 p.m.; Fax Number (202)

898-3838. Comments may be inspected and photocopied in the FDIC Public

Information Center, Room 100, 801 17th Street, NW., Washington, DC

20429, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. on business days.

National Credit Union Administration: Comments should be directed

to Becky Baker, Secretary of the Board. Mail or hand deliver comments

to: National Credit Union Administration, 1775 Duke Street, Alexandria,

VA 22314-3428. You are encouraged to fax comments to (703) 518-6319 or

please send comments by one method only.

Federal Trade Commission: Comments should refer to ``Alternative

Forms of Privacy Notices, Project No. P034815.'' Comments filed in

paper form should be mailed or delivered to: Federal Trade Commission/

Office of the Secretary, Room 159-H, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW.,

Washington, DC 20580. Comments filed in electronic form (in ASCII

format, WordPerfect, or Microsoft Word) should be sent to:

GLBnotices@ftc.gov. If the comment contains any material for which

confidential treatment is requested, it must be filed in paper (rather

than electronic) form, and the first page of the document must be

clearly labeled ``Confidential.'' \1\ Regardless of the form in which

they are filed, the Commission will consider all timely comments, and

will make the comments available (with confidential material redacted)

for public inspection and copying at the Commission's principal office

and on the Commission Web site at http://www.ftc.gov. As a matter of

discretion, the Commission makes every effort to remove home contact

information for individuals from the public comments it receives before

placing those comments on the FTC Web site.

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\1\ Commission Rule 4.2(d), 16 CFR 4.2(d). The comment must also

be accompanied by an explicit request for confidential treatment,

including the factual and legal basis for the request, and must

identify the specific portions of the comment to be withheld from

the public record. The request will be granted or denied by the

Commission's General Counsel, consistent with applicable law and the

public interest. See Commission Rule 4.9(c), 16 CFR 4.9(c).

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Commodity Futures Trading Commission: Comments should be directed

to Jean A. Webb, Secretary, Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Three

Lafayette Centre, 1155 21st Street, NW., Washington, DC 20581. Comments

may be sent by facsimile transmission to (202) 418-5528 or by e-mail to

secretary@cftc.gov.

Securities and Exchange Commission: To help us process and review

your comments more efficiently, comments should be sent by hard copy or

e-mail, but not by both methods. Comments sent by hard copy should be

submitted in triplicate to Jonathan G. Katz, Secretary, Securities and

Exchange Commission, 450 5th Street, NW., Washington, DC 20549-0609.

Comments may also be submitted electronically at the following e-mail

address: rule-comments@sec.gov. All comment letters should refer to

File No. S7-30-03. This file number should be included on the subject

line if e-mail is used. Comment letters will be available for public

inspection and copying in the Commission's Public Reference Room, 450

5th Street, NW., Washington, DC 20549. All comments received will be

posted on the Commission's Internet Web site (http://www.sec.gov) and

made available for public inspection and copying in the Commission's

Public Reference Room, 450 Fifth Street, NW., Washington, DC 20549.\2\

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\2\ The FDIC and SEC do not edit personal, identifying

information such as names or e-mail addresses from electronic

submissions. Submit only information you wish to make publicly

available.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

OCC: Amy Friend, Assistant Chief Counsel, (202) 874-5200; Stephen

Van Meter, Assistant Director, Community and Consumer Law Division,

(202) 874-5750; or Heidi Thomas, Special Counsel, Legislative and

Regulatory Activities Division, (202) 874-5090.

OTS: Elizabeth C. Baltierra, Program Analyst (Compliance)

Compliance Policy, (202) 906-6540; or Paul Robin, Special Counsel,

Regulations and Legislation Division, (202) 906-6648.

Board: Thomas E. Scanlon, Counsel, Legal Division, (202) 452-3594;

Minh-Duc T. Le or Ky Tran-Trong, Senior Attorneys, Division of Consumer

and Community Affairs, (202) 452-3667.

FDIC: April A. Breslaw, Chief, Compliance Section, (202) 898-6609;

David P. Lafleur, Policy Analyst, Division of Supervision and Consumer

Protection, (202) 898-6569; Ruth R. Amberg, Senior Counsel, (202) 898-

3736, or Robert A. Patrick, Counsel, Legal Division, (202) 898-3757.

NCUA: Regina Metz, Staff Attorney, (703) 518-6561, or Ross Kendall,

Staff Attorney, Office of General Counsel, (703) 518-6562.

FTC: Toby Milgrom Levin, Senior Attorney, (202) 326-3713, or

Loretta Garrison, Senior Attorney, (202) 326-3043.

CFTC: Laura Richards, Senior Assistant General Counsel, (202) 418-

5126, or David B. Jacobsohn, Counsel, (202) 418-5161, Office of the

General Counsel.

SEC: Brian Baysinger, Special Counsel, Office of Chief Counsel,

Division of Market Regulation, (202) 942-0073; or Penelope Saltzman,

Senior Counsel, Division of Investment Management, (202) 942-0690.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

Subtitle A of title V of the GLB Act, captioned Disclosure of

Nonpublic

[[Page 75166]]

Personal Information (codified at 15 U.S.C. 6801 et seq.), requires

each financial institution to provide a notice of its privacy policies

and practices to its consumer customers. In general, the privacy

notices must describe a financial institution's policies and practices

with respect to disclosing nonpublic personal information about a

consumer to both affiliated and nonaffiliated third parties and provide

a consumer a reasonable opportunity to direct the institution not to

share nonpublic personal information about the consumer with

nonaffiliated third parties. The privacy notice must also provide,

where applicable under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), a notice

and an opportunity for a consumer to opt out of the sharing of certain

information among affiliates.\3\

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\3\ 15 U.S.C. 1681a(d)(2)(A)(iii) (FCRA); 15 U.S.C. 6803(b)(4)

(GLB Act).

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The Agencies have published consistent final regulations that

implement the privacy provisions of the GLB Act (collectively referred

to as ``the privacy rule'').\4\ The privacy rule requires a financial

institution to include in its privacy notices specific items of

information, such as the categories of nonpublic personal information

that the institution collects and the categories of third parties to

which the institution may disclose the information. The rule contains

sample clauses that institutions may use in privacy notices. The rule

does not, however, prescribe any specific format or standardized

wording for these notices. Instead, institutions may design their own

notices based on their individual practices provided they are

consistent with the law and meet the ``clear and conspicuous'' standard

in the rule.

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\4\ 12 CFR part 40 (OCC); 12 CFR part 216 (Board); 12 CFR part

332 (FDIC); 12 CFR part 573 (OTS); 12 CFR part 716 (NCUA); 16 CFR

part 313 (FTC); 17 CFR part 160 (CFTC); and 17 CFR part 248 (SEC).

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Financial institutions first were required to distribute privacy

notices to their customers by July 1, 2001. Many privacy notices in

this initial effort were long and complex. Moreover, because the

privacy rule allows institutions flexibility in designing their privacy

notices, notices have been difficult to compare, even among financial

institutions with identical privacy policies.

In response to broad-based concerns expressed by representatives of

financial institutions, consumers, privacy advocates, and Members of

Congress, the Agencies conducted a workshop in December 2001 to provide

a forum to consider how financial institutions could provide more

useful privacy notices to consumers. The workshop featured panel

presentations by financial institutions, consumer advocates, and

communications experts, and highlighted key communication principles to

improve the notices. A number of institutions, particularly those with

complex information-sharing practices, described the challenges they

faced in explaining their practices and the choices available to

consumers in a simple fashion while meeting all of the legal

requirements for notice. Some institutions described results of

consumer testing and efforts to make their privacy notices clearer and

more useful to consumers.

A number of financial institutions have since sought to improve

their notices. Additionally, some industry groups have been working to

formulate short, consumer-friendly notices that could accompany the

longer, legally mandated notices under the rule. The Agencies applaud

the efforts by consumer advocates and industry to improve privacy

notices to make them more readable and useful to consumers.

To encourage and facilitate the efforts already underway, the

Agencies are considering proposing amendments to the privacy rule to

provide for privacy notices that are more understandable and useful to

consumers. The Agencies believe that this effort could benefit

significantly from the breadth and depth of experience that many

institutions have gained over the past two years in designing privacy

notices, as well as the expertise of communications experts and the

input of consumer organizations and comments from the public.

Accordingly, the Agencies seek comment on a wide range of issues

associated with the format, elements, and language used in privacy

notices that would make the notices more accessible, readable, and

useful. The Agencies also solicit examples of forms, model clauses, and

other information, such as applicable research that has been conducted

in this area, that may provide concrete illustrations or evidence to

assist the Agencies in considering whether and how to develop various

proposals.\5\

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\5\ As stated above, the Agencies will jointly review all of the

comments submitted, including those comments submitted to only one

agency. Commenters may request confidential treatment of any trade

secrets and commercial or financial information that is privileged

or confidential information provided to the Agencies in accordance

with the Freedom of Information Act (5 U.S.C. 552) and the Agencies'

respective regulations regarding availability of information. 12 CFR

part 4, subparts B and C (OCC); 12 CFR part 505 (OTS); 12 CFR part

261, subparts A and B (Board); 12 CFR part 309 (FDIC); 12 CFR 792.29

(NCUA); 16 CFR 4.10 (FTC); 17 CFR 145.9 (Petition for Confidential

Treatment) (CFTC); 17 CFR part 200, subpart D (SEC).

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Some of the terms and examples used in this Advance Notice of

Proposed Rulemaking (ANPR) and sample notices are not suitable for

credit unions, which have an organizational and operational structure

that is different than other financial institutions. For example, the

term customer, in the context of credit unions, generally will mean

member, and while credit unions may form subsidiaries, they do not

establish corporate affiliations like other financial institutions.

Nevertheless, because of the predominance of issues that are common to

all types of financial institutions, the NCUA believes its

participation is important at this ANPR stage, whether or not it

ultimately determines to publish a separate, but consistent and

comparable, rule for credit unions.

Based on the information collected for this ANPR, including

information collected through independent research conducted by the

Agencies, the Agencies will determine whether to propose changes to the

privacy rule and, if so, will seek further public comment on specific

proposals. The Agencies expect that consumer testing would be a key

component in the development of any specific proposals.

II. General Considerations for Improving Privacy Notices

The Agencies are considering developing a range of alternative

proposals for public comment to improve the privacy notices that

financial institutions must provide to consumers under the GLB Act. The

primary matter the Agencies are now considering is whether to develop a

model privacy notice that would be short and simple. In order to

illustrate, generally, this type of short notice and to spur specific

suggestions for additional ideas that the Agencies should consider, a

few of the potential alternative approaches are summarized below. These

alternatives are also intended to help frame a number of important

questions beyond the design of a short notice, such as whether all

financial institutions should be required to use the same form of

notice and whether a short notice could be a substitute for or should

be a supplement to a longer, more detailed notice. The sample notices

included in the appendices do not reflect a determination by the

Agencies that any of these notices would be satisfactory under the

privacy rule or for any particular financial institution. The Agencies

note that these alternatives have not been developed as a result of

specific research or consumer testing and are not being proposed for

[[Page 75167]]

adoption. The Agencies specifically invite suggestions for other

approaches to improve the readability and usefulness of privacy notices

as set out in section III.

As an initial matter, the Agencies request comment on whether to

pursue the development of a short privacy notice. The Agencies note

that, should they do so, there are several ways the Agencies could

exercise their authority for developing a short notice, and the

Agencies have not settled on any single approach. The Agencies could,

for example, explore whether an interagency interpretation of the

privacy rule, perhaps with model forms or language, would promote the

development of privacy notices that are more understandable and useful

to consumers. Similarly, the Agencies could develop a set of guidelines

or best practices that would enable financial institutions to improve

their privacy notices, or the Agencies could propose amendments to the

privacy rule. The Agencies request comment on what approaches would be

most useful to consumers while taking into consideration the burden on

financial institutions.

The Agencies have identified the following approaches to simplify

the privacy notices for consideration by commenters. One approach would

be for the Agencies to develop a specific format and standardized

language for a short notice that highlights key elements of an

institution's privacy policy. For instance, a short notice could

describe the types of nonpublic personal information an institution

collects, the institution's policies for sharing that information with

third parties, and a description of how consumers can opt out of

information sharing. Like a nutrition label, a standardized notice

would permit consumers easily to compare these elements of the privacy

policies of different institutions and to become familiar with the

standardized format and text. This type of form could include a

description of how the consumer could obtain a longer, detailed privacy

notice or be provided in combination with a longer, detailed privacy

notice. An example illustrating this kind of format and language for a

short notice appears in Appendix A.

In a similar approach, the Agencies could develop a short notice

with a specific format and standardized language that would be designed

to address all of the relevant elements listed in the GLB Act and the

privacy rule. Such a notice would permit consumers to compare all

relevant elements listed under federal law of the privacy policies of

different institutions. However, since information sharing practices

may vary, a financial institution may need flexibility in describing

the categories of affiliated and nonaffiliated parties to whom it

discloses nonpublic personal information. An example illustrating this

kind of format and language appears in Appendix B and the categories of

parties that may be modified by a financial institution appear in

brackets.

Another approach to simplifying privacy notices would involve

establishing a standardized format for privacy notices, but allowing

financial institutions to provide their own descriptions of their

privacy policies and practices. This potential approach may simplify

privacy notices and make them more accessible for consumers, yet would

permit each financial institution to tailor the language in the notice

to suit its own privacy policies and practices. An example of a

standardized format is included in Appendix C. Alternatively, the

Agencies could prescribe standardized language that a financial

institution would use to design its own notice without a format

specified by the privacy rule. Standardized language may facilitate

comparisons among financial institutions' policies and describe key

consumer rights so that consumers could become familiar with

circumstances under which information about them may be disclosed to

third parties.

Another approach would be to focus attention on the consumer's

right to opt out of disclosures available under the institution's

privacy policies. For example, the opt-out notice could be provided by

itself, with a statement that the institution's privacy policy is

available on request. Alternatively, a description of the consumer's

opt out right and how it could be exercised could be provided on the

first page of a financial institution's privacy notice. The Agencies

could prescribe the language, and its placement so as to ensure

prominence and readability, but not require any further standardization

of privacy notices. An example of this type of notice is included in

Appendix D.

Detailed descriptions of ways to improve privacy notices, such as

examples of language that may be used, illustrations of formats, and

references to the particular requirements of the privacy rule that may

need to be amended, will assist the Agencies in learning about and

evaluating particular proposals. This ANPR outlines several potential

approaches. The Agencies invite comment on the advantages and

disadvantages of these approaches. Also, the Agencies request comment

on any other approach the Agencies should consider.

III. Request for Comments

Any change in the privacy rule to provide for short notices raises

a number of issues. In addition to comment on the various approaches

discussed above or illustrated in the appendices, the Agencies request

comment and supporting research and documentation on other matters that

may be raised by the implementation of a short privacy notice. In

particular, the Agencies invite comment on the following questions and

supporting documentation where available:

A. Goals of a Privacy Notice

1. What should be the goals of a privacy notice? What goals are

most important?

2. Should the Agencies pursue the development of a short notice to

achieve these goals?

3. Are there any special issues for the Agencies to consider in

developing a short privacy notice that may arise from potential

differences between federal and state law requirements?

4. In what ways should a privacy notice be useful to a consumer?

Please identify those ways that are the most or least important.

a. To permit ready comparison among different institutions' privacy

policies?

b. To provide sufficient information to make an informed decision

about whether to opt out?

c. To highlight the consumer's right to opt out?

d. To provide convenient mechanisms for the consumer to opt out?

e. To provide a mechanism for the consumer to opt out in the same

medium used to provide the privacy notice?

f. Other ways?

B. Elements of a Privacy Notice

1. What are the key elements of a privacy policy that a short

notice should contain?

2. Are these key elements the same from the perspective of

institutions and consumers? If not, explain the differences and why.

3. Is there an optimal number of elements (beyond which would be

too many) to include in a short notice?

4. Should a short privacy notice contain, at a minimum, all of the

relevant elements listed in the GLB Act and the privacy rule? If not,

should it include a statement advising the consumer that an

institution's complete privacy policy will be provided upon request?

[[Page 75168]]

5. Should certain elements, such as a description of a consumer's

opt-out rights (if applicable), be given prominence or be presented in

a certain order?

6. Should statements describing information sharing practices not

subject to a consumer's right to opt-out, such as whether a financial

institution discloses information to nonaffiliated financial

institutions under joint marketing agreements for financial products or

services, be highlighted in the short notice?

C. Language of a Privacy Notice

1. Are there particular ``privacy'' terms or words that consumers

readily understand that should be included in a short notice? Should

any terms or language currently used in notices be avoided?

2. Should a financial institution be required to use standardized

clauses in a short notice?

3. Rather than using standardized language, should a financial

institution be permitted to develop its own language in a short notice

so long as the short notice incorporates specified items of

information?

D. Format of a Privacy Notice

1. Should the Agencies develop a standardized graphic design for a

short notice that financial institutions would use? If so, what graphic

design would be most suitable for the format of a short notice?

2. Based on experiences with the current privacy notices or tests

that have been conducted in this area, what alternative forms of notice

are likely to be useful to consumers and/or to financial institutions?

3. Is there a suggested length for a short privacy notice? Is there

a suggested length for phrases or sentences within a short notice?

4. Are there suggestions for overall design of the notice,

including layout, use of color, graphic devices, font(s), and size(s)

of the text in the notice?

5. If a financial institution does not disclose information to

third parties that would be subject to a consumer's right to opt out

(under either the FCRA or the GLB Act), what form should the privacy

notice take?

6. Should an institution be allowed to modify its short privacy

notice to include elements that may be required under state laws? If

so, then how can a short notice be designed to include those elements?

E. Mandatory or Permissible Aspects of a Privacy Notice

1. Should use of a short notice be mandatory for all financial

institutions?

2. Should use of standardized language and/or format for a short

notice be mandatory for all financial institutions? Or should each

institution be permitted to create its own short notice following

agency guidelines?

3. If a short notice is standardized, should only part(s) of the

notice be mandatory, and, if so, what part(s)? Or should all of a

standardized short notice be mandatory?

4. If use of standardized part(s), such as standardized clauses, is

not required, should the Agencies create a safe harbor from

administrative enforcement for financial institutions that use the

standardized parts in their notices (or a whole, standardized notice)?

5. Should an institution be required or permitted to deliver both a

short notice and a long notice?

6. Financial institutions that generally do not share information

with third parties--such as those that do not have any affiliates and

do not share information in a manner that is subject to a consumer's

right to opt out under the FCRA or the GLB Act and do not engage in

joint marketing agreements--currently may have abbreviated and simple

notices. If a short notice is mandated, should the Agencies make an

exception to allow these institutions to continue to use the simple,

abbreviated notices they currently use? Alternatively, should the

Agencies prescribe a special short notice for these institutions to

use?

7. Some financial institutions offer consumers choices to opt out

of information-sharing arrangements that are not mandated by either the

FCRA or the GLB Act, such as the ability to opt out of an institution's

own marketing or joint marketing arrangements with nonaffiliated

financial institutions for financial products or services. If a short

notice is mandated, should the Agencies allow these institutions to

include in the short notice information about these additional choices

to opt out?

8. Should the Agencies allow financial institutions to include

other information that relates to their privacy policies and practices

in their short notices? For instance, should a financial institution

that shares information with affiliates for marketing purposes only if

a customer opts in to the sharing be permitted to include this

information in a short notice?

F. Costs and Benefits of a Short Notice

With respect to consumers or financial institutions, or both:

1. What are the costs and benefits of providing a short notice and

how do they compare with the requirements under the current privacy

rule?

2. How, if at all, do the costs and benefits of a short notice

depend on:

a. Whether the notice is mandatory or permissible?

b. Whether the format of the notice is standardized? On whether the

language is standardized?

c. Whether the use of a short notice requires financial

institutions to make supplemental privacy information available upon

request?

G. Additional Information

1. Are there any models or samples of notices that work

particularly well with consumers that the Agencies should consider?

Provide any samples and research or supporting documentation.

2. Provide the results and supporting research or documentation of

any consumer testing that has been conducted in this area.

3. What processes or types of consumer testing should the Agencies

use to evaluate standardized terms or language, formats for notices,

and short notices?

4. If the Agencies adopt an alternative form of notice, should

consumer education accompany introduction of the new type of notice? If

so, what type of consumer education would be effective?

IV. Conclusion

In the event that the Agencies decide to proceed, the Agencies

expect to do so through proposed rulemaking. In addition to evaluating

the comments submitted in response to this ANPR, the Agencies

contemplate that consumer testing would be an important element of the

development of any alternative type of privacy notice.

By Order of the Board of Directors.

Dated at Washington, DC, this 2nd day of December, 2003. Federal

Deposit Insurance Corporation.

Robert E. Feldman,

Executive Secretary.

By the National Credit Union Administration Board on December

18, 2003.

Becky Baker,

Secretary of the Board.

[[Page 75169]]

Dated: December 22, 2003.

By the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Margaret H. McFarland,

Deputy Secretary.

Dated: December 8, 2003.

By the Office of Thrift Supervision,

James E. Gilleran,

Director.

Dated: December 18, 2003.

Jean A. Webb,

Secretary of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

Dated: November 14, 2003.

John D. Hawke, Jr.,

Comptroller of the Currency.

Dated: December 17, 2003.

By Direction of the Commission.

Donald S. Clark,

Secretary.

By order of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve

System, December 22, 2003.

Jennifer J. Johnson,

Secretary of the Board.

BILLING CODE 4810-33-P; 6210-01-P; 6714-01-P; 6720-01-P; 7535-01-P;

6750-01-P; 6351-01-P; 8010-01-P

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[FR Doc. 03-31992 Filed 12-29-03; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4810-33-C; 6210-01-C; 6714-01-C; 6720-01-C; 7535-01-C;

6750-01-C; 6351-01-C; 8010-01-C