Federal Compliance Information Gramm Leach Bliley Act (GLBA) :

GLBA in A Nutshell
What Does It Do? Requires "financial institutions" to notify "consumers"
of their privacy policies upon establishing a "customer" relationship and
annually thereafter. 16 C.F.R. § 313.1(a)(1)(2000).

Describes conditions in which a financial institution may disclose "non-public
personal information" about consumers to nonaffiliated third parties.
16 C.F.R. § 313.1(a)(2). Provides a method for "consumers" to prevent
financial institutions from disclosing certain types of information to nonaffiliated
third parties by giving the consumer the ability to "opt out" of the disclosure.
16 C.F.R. § 313.1(a)(3).

Bans pre-text calling. (Already prohibited for collection agencies under
§ 807(10) of the FDCPA.)

Who is Covered By the Act?
Financial institutions, as broadly defined by the Act, which disclose
"nonpublic personal information" about "customers" or "consumers" to
"nonaffiliated third parties"-unless the transaction is exempted.

Consequently, most financial institutions must comply with the GLBA.

However, the following financial institutions need not comply:
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Collection agencies.
Collection agencies are deemed to be financial institutions (65 Fed. Reg.
33646, 33655 fn.25).
Collection agencies need not comply if they engage in tradtional collection
activities. They are not governed by GLBA because a "customer relationship"
does not exist between the debtor and the agency.
Final Rule, 65 Fed. Reg. 33646, 33653 fn. 18.
"A consumer has a 'customer relationship' with a debt collector that purchases
an account from the original creditor (because he or she would have a
credit account with the collector), but not with a debt collector that simply
attempts to collect amounts owed to the creditor." (citing 65 Fed. Red.
11174 (Mar. 1, 2000).
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So from the above, we know for a fact of law that a collection agency which
only attempts to collect a debt in the name of or on behalf of the original creditor
is not subject to GLBA while a collector who has purchased or claims to have
purchased a debt and later attempts to collect it does fall under GLBA.
This gives us some additional tools to work with.
The debt collector who does not purchase a debt must not add any additional
fees to an account of any kind because he has no contractural relationship
with the customer. If he has no contractural relationship then he cannot claim
that that he is providing any kind of service for the debtor and therefore the
debtor owes him nothing at all. Please do not read into that last statement more
than is intended. We are not speaking of the original debt at all. That is still owed.
The only point being made here is that the collector of a debt who collects in
the name of the original creditor may not tack on any additional fees of any kind.
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In short, collection agencies are not covered by the Act, unless they purchase
debts and either attempt to collect the debt or locate the consumer.
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And so it also follows that as per above then a collection agency that purchases
the debt would be claiming that the debtor had a contractural relationship with
them. Let us see if that may be true or is false. What is the legal definition of a
contract? Let us see what the law of contracts has to say about that.
1. A contract must be between 2 or more parties willingly entering into the
contract, and must be of legal age to contract and that an exchange of valuable
consideration must occur. All of the above presumably occurred upon the
completion of the original contract to be sure, but what exchange of valuable
consideration occurred between the debtor and the collector having purchased
the debt from the creditor? None whatever. But can the original creditor sell
and successfully transfer his right, title and interest in the debt to some other
party? It is clear that he can under law. It is his equity and he can do with it
as he pleases. Provided that certain conditions have been met. The first
condition is that provision for such a transfer has been made and agreed to
by the debtor and that the debtor is first contacted and given notice of the
upcoming sale and an opportunity to purchase the indebtedness at the same
price that the creditor is willing to accept from the purchaser of the debt.
If these conditions are not met then the transfer is illegal in the first place and
the contract is rendered null and void upon it's face. And since the collector
claims to have a contractural obligation with the debtor, the debtor then has
the right to demand his opt-out rights under GLBA This is one of the neat
little tricks that CREDITWRENCH takes into account to help you win the
day. By the time that we get done with the collection agency, he don't have
a leg to stand on.
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Retailers that extend credit through lay away plans are not covered by act.
16 C.F.R. § 313.3(k)(3).
Merchants that allow a consumer to "run a tab" are not covered by the
Act. 16 C.F.R. § 313.3(k)(3).

Grocery stores that allow consumers to write a check for a higher amount
than the grocery purchase and obtain cash back. 16 C.F.R. § 313.3(k)(3).
How does a "financial institution" comply with the Act?
Provide a clear and conspicuous written or electronic notice describing the
institution's privacy policies to consumers at the time a "customer relationship"
is established annually thereafter.
This notice should identify: the type of "personally identifiable financial
information" the institution has collected about the consumer; a description
of where the institution obtained the information; if the institution shares this
information with "nonaffiliated third parties" and the ability for customers to
opt out or prevent the institution from sharing certain types of information
with other parties. "Non affiliated third parties" are considered to be any
party except someone who is employed jointly by you and your company
who is not an affiliate. 16 C.F.R. § 313.3(m)(1)(I-ii)(2000).
"Personally identifiable financial information" would include information a
consumer includes on an application to obtain a loan or credit card, account
balance information, payment history, overdraft information, and information
from a credit report. See 16 C.F.R. §313.3(o)(2)(i).

Personally identifiable financial information would not include aggregate
information or blind data which does not include account information or
"public information" about a consumer.