Federal Regulators to Host Workshop on Privacy Policies

Washington, DC, October 2, 2001 - Various federal financial institution regulators have issued a notice announcing a public workshop on financial privacy notices to be held on Tuesday, December 4, 2001 from 9 am to 5 pm at the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20580. The regulators issuing the joint notice are: the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System; the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation; the Office of Thrift Supervision; the National Credit Union Administration; the FTC, and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

The workshop is intended to educate the regulators and the public about how financial institutions can provide consumers with effective notice of their privacy policies. The questions to be addressed at the workshop include:

• What challenges are associated with providing effective privacy notices?
• What are some examples of privacy notices that are easy to read and understand and that can serve as models for effective communication to consumers? What formats are particularly effective?
• What can we learn from readability and communications experts that will help financial institutions draft notices that are easy to read and easy to find?
• Are industry groups developing self-regulatory guidelines or “best practices” relating to privacy notices and reasonable opt-out methods?
• Have individual financial institutions or other groups developed effective business and consumer education materials regarding privacy policies?
• Would it be useful for federal regulators or others to develop such materials?

Interested parties are encouraged to submit written comments on these issues no later than January 4, 2002. Persons interested in attending this free workshop are encouraged to pre-register by e-mailing their name and affiliation by November 16 to glbworkshop@ftc.gov.