Opt-In Bill Will Be Reconsidered in January

The financial marketing opt-in bill defeated in California on Sept. 14 isn’t gone yet.

SB-773, which terrified the banking industry, will pop up again in January when the legislature returns, according to Robert Herrell, a spokesperson for the bill’s co-author, Sen. Jackie Speier (D-Hillsborough).

“The bill’s not dead,” Herrill said. “It was defeated once, but there’s a reconsideration still on the floor that can be taken up at any time.”

The bill would have required financial institutions to get a consumer’s permission before sharing their data with third parties. But it received only 32 votes out of the 41 needed for passage. There were 26 votes against the measure.

Speier and Herrill blamed Gov. Gray Davis, who had proposed revisions that would have softened the legislation. An estimated 18 “pro-business” Democrats refrained from voting on the measure.

“It was a back-room deal with the Governor’s office,” said Herrill. “A bunch of folks took a walk.”

Introduced in February by Speier and Assemblymember Hannah-Beth Jackson (D-Santa Barbara), the bill also required that consumers be given a chance to opt out of data sharing with affiliates.

The Gramm-Leach-Bliley financial modernization act, a federal law passed in 1999, puts no such limit on sharing with affiliates. And it allows an opt-out for sharing with non-affiliates.

Davis proposed changes in SB773, allowing an opt-out for non-affiliated companies with a joint marketing agreement. He also favored an opt-out for non-affiliated firms in the same line of business.

Herrill said that these proposals were “unacceptable.”