US Federal Court Preempts Landmark California Privacy Law

Chris Hoofnagle of Epic West reports that a US District Court has ruled that some of the ground-breaking rules in California's privacy law are pre-empted by the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act: EPIC West: Electronic Privacy Information Center West Coast Office: Federal Court Preempts Landmark California Privacy Law

UPDATE: More coverage:

Tough bank privacy law thrown out:

"SACRAMENTO - A U.S. District Court judge on Tuesday struck down a portion of a California law that restricts banks from selling consumers' private information to their affiliates, ruling that the state law is pre-empted by federal rules.

The American Bankers Association, the Financial Services Roundtable and Consumer Bankers Association had sued California Attorney General Bill Lockyer, arguing that the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act already regulated their ability to sell such information to affiliates in other lines of business.

The federal act lets banks and other financial institutions share information with affiliates about customers' 'credit worthiness, credit standing, credit capacity, character, general reputation, personal characteristics, or mode of living.'

The 2003 California financial privacy law forced companies to offer consumers the right to opt-out of sharing such information...."