Banks, businesses and organizations like ACORN who receive individual’s personal financial records are bound by strict federal and state laws to protect that information. The law is chiefly enforced through the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act of 1999 (GLB), which was a previous attempt by Congress to restructure the financial sector.
While chiefly focused on banks and financial institutions, GLB also covers groups like ACORN who are “non-bank mortgage lenders, loan brokers, some financial or investment advisers, tax preparers, providers of real estate settlement services, and debt collectors.”
We know ACORN provide tax preparation and other financial counseling. We leave to others whether or not ACORN falls under the letter of GLB. They certainly fall under the spirit of what legislators were trying to achieve. At the very least, the were trying to prevent credit reports, for example, from being thrown away in a public dumpster:
ACORN – Credit Report _Redacted_ –
Penalties for violating GLB are severe. In addition to possible criminal penalties, including jail time, organizations and institutions can be fined $100,00o for each infraction.
Keep in mind, there were many, many documents similar to the one above dumped in the trash. While we have redacted sensitive personal information, ACORN had not. Add up the hundreds and even thousands of such documents at a penalty of $100,000 each and ACORN ought to be facing very stiff fines. That is, if anyone bothers to investigate.
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