Congress Considers Major Overhaul of Decades-Old Financial Privacy Law

Congressional interest is growing in updating the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA) of 1999, which governs financial data privacy. Lawmakers are examining how the law should address a financial system increasingly reliant on data and technology, with a central policy dispute focusing on whether a new federal standard should preempt state privacy laws. The proposed Guidelines for Use, Access, and Responsible Disclosure (GUARD) Financial Data Act aims to establish a uniform national standard, imposing new data-minimization, consent, access, and deletion requirements on financial institutions.