15 U.S.C. § 6809 — Definitions

Page 2296 TITLE 15—COMMERCE AND TRADE § 6809 § 6809. Definitions As used in this subchapter: (1) Federal banking agency The term ‘‘Federal banking agency’’ has the same meaning as given in section 1813 of title 12. (2) Federal functional regulator The term ‘‘Federal functional regulator’’ means— (A) the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System; (B) the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency; (C) the Board of Directors of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation; (D) the Director of the Office of Thrift Su- pervision; (E) the National Credit Union Administra- tion Board; and (F) the Securities and Exchange Commis- sion. (3) Financial institution (A) In general The term ‘‘financial institution’’ means any institution the business of which is en- gaging in financial activities as described in section 1843(k) of title 12. (B) Persons subject to CFTC regulation Notwithstanding subparagraph (A), the term ‘‘financial institution’’ does not in- clude any person or entity with respect to any financial activity that is subject to the jurisdiction of the Commodity Futures Trad- ing Commission under the Commodity Ex- change Act [7 U.S.C. 1 et seq.]. (C) Farm credit institutions Notwithstanding subparagraph (A), the term ‘‘financial institution’’ does not in- clude the Federal Agricultural Mortgage Corporation or any entity chartered and op- erating under the Farm Credit Act of 1971 [12 U.S.C. 2001 et seq.]. (D) Other secondary market institutions Notwithstanding subparagraph (A), the term ‘‘financial institution’’ does not in- clude institutions chartered by Congress specifically to engage in transactions de- scribed in section 6802(e)(1)(C) of this title, as long as such institutions do not sell or transfer nonpublic personal information to a nonaffiliated third party. (4) Nonpublic personal information (A) The term ‘‘nonpublic personal informa- tion’’ means personally identifiable financial information— (i) provided by a consumer to a financial institution; (ii) resulting from any transaction with the consumer or any service performed for the consumer; or (iii) otherwise obtained by the financial in- stitution. (B) Such term does not include publicly available information, as such term is defined by the regulations prescribed under section 6804 of this title. (C) Notwithstanding subparagraph (B), such term— (i) shall include any list, description, or other grouping of consumers (and publicly available information pertaining to them) that is derived using any nonpublic personal information other than publicly available information; but (ii) shall not include any list, description, or other grouping of consumers (and publicly available information pertaining to them) that is derived without using any nonpublic personal information. (5) Nonaffiliated third party The term ‘‘nonaffiliated third party’’ means any entity that is not an affiliate of, or re- lated by common ownership or affiliated by corporate control with, the financial institu- tion, but does not include a joint employee of such institution. (6) Affiliate The term ‘‘affiliate’’ means any company that controls, is controlled by, or is under common control with another company. (7) Necessary to effect, administer, or enforce The term ‘‘as necessary to effect, admin- ister, or enforce the transaction’’ means— (A) the disclosure is required, or is a usual, appropriate, or acceptable method, to carry out the transaction or the product or service business of which the transaction is a part, and record or service or maintain the con- sumer’s account in the ordinary course of providing the financial service or financial product, or to administer or service benefits or claims relating to the transaction or the product or service business of which it is a part, and includes— (i) providing the consumer or the con- sumer’s agent or broker with a confirma- tion, statement, or other record of the transaction, or information on the status or value of the financial service or finan- cial product; and (ii) the accrual or recognition of incen- tives or bonuses associated with the trans- action that are provided by the financial institution or any other party; (B) the disclosure is required, or is one of the lawful or appropriate methods, to en- force the rights of the financial institution or of other persons engaged in carrying out the financial transaction, or providing the product or service; (C) the disclosure is required, or is a usual, appropriate, or acceptable method, for insur- ance underwriting at the consumer’s request or for reinsurance purposes, or for any of the following purposes as they relate to a con- sumer’s insurance: Account administration, reporting, investigating, or preventing fraud or material misrepresentation, processing premium payments, processing insurance claims, administering insurance benefits (in- cluding utilization review activities), par- ticipating in research projects, or as other- wise required or specifically permitted by Federal or State law; or Page 2297 TITLE 15—COMMERCE AND TRADE § 6821 (D) the disclosure is required, or is a usual, appropriate or acceptable method, in con- nection with— (i) the authorization, settlement, billing, processing, clearing, transferring, recon- ciling, or collection of amounts charged, debited, or otherwise paid using a debit, credit or other payment card, check, or ac- count number, or by other payment means; (ii) the transfer of receivables, accounts or interests therein; or (iii) the audit of debit, credit or other payment information. (8) State insurance authority The term ‘‘State insurance authority’’ means, in the case of any person engaged in providing insurance, the State insurance au- thority of the State in which the person is domiciled. (9) Consumer The term ‘‘consumer’’ means an individual who obtains, from a financial institution, fi- nancial products or services which are to be used primarily for personal, family, or house- hold purposes, and also means the legal rep- resentative of such an individual. (10) Joint agreement The term ‘‘joint agreement’’ means a formal written contract pursuant to which two or more financial institutions jointly offer, en- dorse, or sponsor a financial product or serv- ice, and as may be further defined in the regu- lations prescribed under section 6804 of this title. (11) Customer relationship The term ‘‘time of establishing a customer relationship’’ shall be defined by the regula- tions prescribed under section 6804 of this title, and shall, in the case of a financial insti- tution engaged in extending credit directly to consumers to finance purchases of goods or services, mean the time of establishing the credit relationship with the consumer. (Pub. L. 106–102, title V, § 509, Nov. 12, 1999, 113 Stat. 1443.) Editorial Notes REFERENCES IN TEXT This subchapter, referred to in text, was in the origi- nal ‘‘this subtitle’’, meaning subtitle A (§§ 501–510) of title V of Pub. L. 106–102, Nov. 12, 1999, 113 Stat. 1436, which is classified principally to this subchapter. For complete classification of subtitle A to the Code, see Tables. The Commodity Exchange Act, referred to in par. (3)(B), is act Sept. 21, 1922, ch. 369, 42 Stat. 998, which is classified generally to chapter 1 (§ 1 et seq.) of Title 7, Agriculture. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see section 1 of Title 7 and Tables. The Farm Credit Act of 1971, referred to in par. (3)(C), is Pub. L. 92–181, Dec. 10, 1971, 85 Stat. 583, which is classified generally to chapter 23 (§ 2001 et seq.) of Title 12, Banks and Banking. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see Short Title note set out under section 2001 of Title 12 and Tables. SUBCHAPTER II—FRAUDULENT ACCESS TO FINANCIAL INFORMATION § 6821. Privacy protection for customer informa- tion of financial institutions (a) Prohibition on obtaining customer informa- tion 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 fraudu- lent statement or representation to an officer, employee, or agent of a financial institution; (2) by making a false, fictitious, or fraudu- lent statement or representation to a cus- tomer 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, counter- feit, lost, or stolen, was fraudulently obtained, or contains a false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement or representation. (b) Prohibition on solicitation of a person to ob- tain customer information from financial in- stitution under false pretenses It shall be a violation of this subchapter to re- quest a person to obtain customer information of a financial institution, knowing that the per- son will obtain, or attempt to obtain, the infor- mation from the institution in any manner de- scribed 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 enforce- ment 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 institu- tion, from obtaining customer information of such financial institution in the course of— (1) testing the security procedures or sys- tems of such institution for maintaining the confidentiality of customer information; (2) investigating allegations of misconduct or negligence on the part of any officer, em- ployee, or agent of the financial institution; or (3) recovering customer information of the financial institution which was obtained or re- ceived by another person in any manner de- scribed 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 ac- tivity, fraud, material misrepresentation, or material nondisclosure that is authorized for such institution under State law, regulation, in- terpretation, or order.