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Title 15, Commerce and TradeRelease 119-110

§6821 Privacy Protection for Customer Information of Financial Institutions

Title 15 › CHAPTER 94 — PRIVACY › SUBCHAPTER II — FRAUDULENT ACCESS TO FINANCIAL INFORMATION › § 6821

Last updated Sep 22, 2026|Official source

Summary

Makes it illegal to get someone else’s customer information from a financial institution by lying, tricking, or using fake papers. That includes lying to a bank worker, lying to a customer, or giving documents that are forged, stolen, fraudulently obtained, or contain false information. It is also illegal to ask or hire someone to do any of those things if you know they will use those methods. The rule does not stop law enforcement from getting such information while doing official work. It also does not stop a financial institution from getting its own customer information to test security, investigate staff wrongdoing, or recover information taken by the forbidden methods. Insurance companies may get information for fraud probes if state law allows. Public records filed under the securities laws are not covered by this rule. State‑licensed private investigators may get information to collect court‑ordered child support if allowed by law and a court order.

Full Legal Text

Title 15, §6821

Commerce and Trade, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)Prohibition on obtaining customer information by false pretenses
It shall be a violation of this subchapter for any person to obtain or attempt to obtain, or cause to be disclosed or attempt to cause to be disclosed to any person, customer information of a financial institution relating to another person—
(1)by making a false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement or representation to an officer, employee, or agent of a financial institution;
(2)by making a false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement or representation to a customer of a financial institution; or
(3)by providing any document to an officer, employee, or agent of a financial institution, knowing that the document is forged, counterfeit, lost, or stolen, was fraudulently obtained, or contains a false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement or representation.
(b)Prohibition on solicitation of a person to obtain customer information from financial institution under false pretenses
It shall be a violation of this subchapter to request a person to obtain customer information of a financial institution, knowing that the person will obtain, or attempt to obtain, the information from the institution in any manner described in subsection (a).
(c)Nonapplicability to law enforcement agencies
No provision of this section shall be construed so as to prevent any action by a law enforcement agency, or any officer, employee, or agent of such agency, to obtain customer information of a financial institution in connection with the performance of the official duties of the agency.
(d)Nonapplicability to financial institutions in certain cases
No provision of this section shall be construed so as to prevent any financial institution, or any officer, employee, or agent of a financial institution, from obtaining customer information of such financial institution in the course of— (1)
(2)investigating allegations of misconduct or negligence on the part of any officer, employee, or agent of the financial institution; or
(3)recovering customer information of the financial institution which was obtained or received by another person in any manner described in subsection (a) or (b).
(e)Nonapplicability to insurance institutions for investigation of insurance fraud
No provision of this section shall be construed so as to prevent any insurance institution, or any officer, employee, or agency of an insurance institution, from obtaining information as part of an insurance investigation into criminal activity, fraud, material misrepresentation, or material nondisclosure that is authorized for such institution under State law, regulation, interpretation, or order.
(f)Nonapplicability to certain types of customer information of financial institutions
No provision of this section shall be construed so as to prevent any person from obtaining customer information of a financial institution that otherwise is available as a public record filed pursuant to the securities laws (as defined in section 78c(a)(47) of this title).
(g)Nonapplicability to collection of child support judgments
No provision of this section shall be construed to prevent any State-licensed private investigator, or any officer, employee, or agent of such private investigator, from obtaining customer information of a financial institution, to the extent reasonably necessary to collect child support from a person adjudged to have been delinquent in his or her obligations by a Federal or State court, and to the extent that such action by a State-licensed private investigator is not unlawful under any other Federal or State law or regulation, and has been authorized by an order or judgment of a court of competent jurisdiction.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

15 U.S.C. § 6821

Title 15, Commerce and Trade

Last Updated

Sep 22, 2026

Release point: 119-110