| Sent: Saturday, March 11, 2000 10:59
AM JMN Investigations To Whom It May Concern: I am writing to express my concern with the proposed regulations to
implement Title V of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act of 1999. As a licensed private
investigator and small business person, I fear we would lose a valuable and very necessary
source of locating witnesses and suspects if It was my impression that the clear intent of Congress was to provide an opportunity for customers of financial institutions to "opt-out" of sharing their personal financial information with non-affiliates of the institutions. The statute provides protection for financial information--not mere names and addresses. If all information available to a financial institution is defined as "non-public personal information," then what is "public"? Congress seemed to be offering a distinction by describing financial information. I believe the Act provides opt-out of information regarding credit history, employment and financial assets. But name, address and phone number should not be classified as "non-public." Private investigators play an important role in our civil and
criminal justice systems which is not understood by many. The information we obtain
regarding addresses and phone numbers is essential to our conduct of business and
fulfilling our obligations to consumers. We utilize this information to investigate
embezzlement, insurance fraud, locate delinquent child support If this information is deemed "non-public personal," only wrongdoers and criminals will benefit and the law-abiding consumer will be the loser. I urge you to define non-public personal information in the manner that Congress intended. Yours truly, ___________________ John Nobriga |