TALLAHASSEE, FL, December 2, 2009 – Why should you be interested in Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act data? It certainly isn’t a riveting subject. Media types don't clamor to use GLBA for a lead story, yet understanding the privacy protection issues surrounding sensitive GLBA data is crucial for investigative professionals. The GLBA did make headline-grabbing news in the case of Victoria's Secret.

When U.S. Representative Joe Barton of Texas received a Victoria’s Secret catalog at his Washington D.C. home he was a little surprised and concerned. Barton
"didn't want his wife thinking that he bought lingerie for women in Washington, or that he spent his time browsing through such material." How did the catalog have his name and D.C. home address? According to Barton, neither he nor his wife ordered from the catalog at that address. He suspected his credit union of revealing his Washington information to third parties and he wanted it to stop.

The Victoria's Secret incident happened right smack in the middle of a U.S. Congressional session where members were fine-tuning the Gramm Leach Bliley Act.

The GLBA proposal wanted to modernize age-old rules on banking, security, and financial institutions. Industry mergers would allow customers to conduct banking and investments under one roof. The new information garnered by banks also prompted legislative stipulations for individual privacy rights.

Bank lobbyists weren't too concerned about privacy stipulations until Barton, a Republican, joined forces with Whaley, a Democrat. The bipartisan pair gave teeth to the Title V privacy amendment. The GLBA was signed into law on November 12, 1999. Some political pundits still like to say that a Victoria's Secret magazine helped inspire individual privacy rights at a most opportune time.

So now we know it's Title V of GLBA that governs privacy, but to what extent? How does it really affect access to information databases?

There are essentially three primary parts to GLBA Title V: the Financial Privacy Rule, the Safeguards Rule, and Pretexting Provisions.

1. The Financial Privacy Rule – This regulates the collection and disclosure of a customer's personal financial information by financial institutions. Consumers must be provided with a privacy notice at the time a financial relationship is established. An opt-out provision must also be provided for the Fair Credit Reporting Act. The financial privacy rule also applies to companies who receive this information whether banking affiliated or not.
   
   
2. The Safeguards Rule – This rule requires that a security plan must be in place to protect consumer information. A designated employee must be in charge of managing the safeguards. Security measures also mandate developing, testing, and monitoring risk management programs and department assessments.
   
   
3. Pretexting Provision – This prohibits fraudulent access to financial information by trying to impersonate someone else to obtain clearance – also known as pretexting. No one is allowed to access a financial customer’s records without proper authority. The provision also prohibits the use of phony emails, websites, or mail accounts.

The federal rules also include exceptions to the Act. For example, when it comes to preventing fraud; institutional risk control; compliance with civil, criminal, or regulatory investigations; or subpoenas, there is legal necessity to provide information to select audiences. The investigation industries are such a select audience!

Whenever an IRBsearch^® customer accesses the IRBsearch^® database, it means that he/she is being granted access to a privileged set of GLBA data information not available through all information brokers. Upon logging into a GLBA database a person should be requested to document the necessary reason for having access to the data. The selections available generally mirror the specific exceptions contained in the privacy amendment. The exceptions range from matters of public safety and compliance with local laws to official representatives acting on behalf of a customer and detecting unauthorized transactions.

Remember, not all databases are GLBA compliant! GLBA information is the cream of the crop for non-public personal information. Within GLBA data lies credit header information from multiple financial institutions. Surprisingly, it's not always the financial information that is so attractive to the researcher. Many times the informational gold is all the personal identifying information such as aliases, current and previous addresses, date of birth, and a social security number. This sensitive information is only available to vetted and industry-specific individuals.

Anybody can jump on the internet and do some basic research, but true and seasoned professionals tend to go with true professional databases. GLBA databases have invested considerable time, money, and security protocols to ensure accurate and protected data is available to appropriate sources.

The risks associated with using non-GLBA information sites may include missing your subject from stale data, or even jeopardizing your hard-earned license by being unable to legally confirm your access to sensitive data retrieved from unscrupulous providers.

GLBA data is a solid and legal foundation on which to launch a search for investigators.

It may not be the sexiest topic of the twenty-first century, but as Representative Barton discovered, GLBA data can make a world of difference in locating your subject—whether you are the one being discovered, or the one doing the researching!