House passes bill easing data privacy rules for banks

The House approved legislation on Tuesday that would allow banks to notify customers of their data privacy rules only when those rules change.

Under current law, banks have to notify customers of their policies each year, regardless of whether they change. Supporters of the Eliminate Privacy Notice Confusion Act, H.R. 749, hope that ending the requirement to notify customers that nothing has changed would remove a regulatory nuisance that banks face today.

Members approved the bill by unanimous consent on Tuesday, which sends it to the Senate.

The House approved a similar bill late last year, and approved it by voice vote. But the Senate never acted on it.

Later this evening, the House will vote on H.R. 1035, a bill requiring a study on whether community-based flood insurance programs might be used to supplement the national flood insurance program.

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