PRIA, Government Policy, Made Personal

Summary

You can let a bank or other financial firm share your records with a government agency by giving a signed, dated paper that does five things: allows the disclosure for no more than three months; says you can cancel it any time before the records are shared; names which records can be shared; says why and which government agency can get them; and tells you your rights under the law. A bank may not force you to sign this to do business. You can also get a copy of the bank’s log showing when your records were shared and with which agency, unless the government gets a court order under section 3409.

Title 12, §3404

Banks and Banking, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)Statement furnished by customer to financial institution and Government authority; contents

A customer may authorize disclosure under section 3402(1) of this title if he furnishes to the financial institution and to the Government authority seeking to obtain such disclosure a signed and dated statement which—

(1)authorizes such disclosure for a period not in excess of three months;

(2)states that the customer may revoke such authorization at any time before the financial records are disclosed;

(3)identifies the financial records which are authorized to be disclosed;

(4)specifies the purposes for which, and the Government authority to which, such records may be disclosed; and

(5)states the customer’s rights under this chapter.

(b)Authorization as condition of doing business prohibited

No such authorization shall be required as a condition of doing business with any financial institution.

(c)Right of customer to access to financial institution’s record of disclosures

The customer has the right, unless the Government authority obtains a court order as provided in section 3409 of this title, to obtain a copy of the record which the financial institution shall keep of all instances in which the customer’s record is disclosed to a Government authority pursuant to this section, including the identity of the Government authority to which such disclosure is made.

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Amendments

1979—Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 96–3 struck out subsec. (d) which had directed that all financial institutions promptly notify all of their customers of their rights under this chapter, that the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System prepare a statement of customers’ rights under this chapter, and that the supplying of such a statement to their customers by the financial institutions be deemed compliance with the notification requirement.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

Section effective upon the expiration of 120 days after Nov. 10, 1978, see section 2101 of Pub. L. 95–630, set out as a note under section 375b of this title.

§3404 Customer Authorizations