California privacy law ruling [9th Circuit] News
California privacy law ruling [9th Circuit]

American Bankers Association, et al. v. Gould, et al., United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, June 20, 2005 [ruling that a portion of a California law giving consumers the right to block banks from selling their personal information to other institutions is preempted by federal law]. Excerpt:

We therefore hold that the affiliate-sharing preemption clause preempts SB1 insofar as it attempts to regulate the communication between affiliates of "information," as that term is used in § 1681a(d)(1). That is, SB1 is preempted to the extent that it applies to information shared between affiliates concerning consumers' "credit worthiness, credit standing, credit capacity, character, general reputation, personal characteristics, or mode of living" that is used, expected to be used, or collected for the purpose of establishing eligibility for "credit or insurance," employment, or other authorized purpose. See id. § 1681a(d)(1).

Read the full text of the opinion here [PDF]. Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.

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