AICPA commends Congress for introducing Privacy Protection Act.

Representatives Mark Kennedy (R-Minn.) and Collin Peterson (D-Minn.) recently introduced the Privacy Protection Act of 2005, H.R. 2387, which would amend the privacy provision of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act applicable to CPAs. In essence, it would relieve a substantial unnecessary regulatory burden on CPAs, and especially on sole practitioners and small firms.

The purpose of GLB was to protect the confidentiality of non-public personal financial information by requiring disclosure of how that information may be shared, and allowing the client to opt-out of any information sharing. However, CPAs historically have been legally required to maintain the privacy of all non-public financial information provided to them by a client unless the client gives express consent for any sharing of information. Therefore, the rules created by GLB have added substantial and unnecessary regulatory burdens. The profession's rules governing CPAs give clients greater privacy protection than provided by GLB because clients have to opt-in for any sharing of the non-public financial information.