Editorial: Bank titan doesn’t want privacy bills

Thursday, May 4, 2000 | 10:13 a.m.

There is a growing public sentiment that more should be done to protect the privacy rights of Americans, but don't tell that to Hugh McColl Jr., the CEO of Bank of America. McColl, who runs the nation's largest bank, told a meeting of business journalists in Atlanta on Tuesday that legislators should be restrained when it comes to privacy legislation. "The temptation to exploit consumers' privacy concerns for political gain is great," McColl lamented.

What nonsense. First, financial institutions that swap sensitive information, such as medical records and Social Security numbers, without the customer's knowledge is a breach of privacy. Second, it was banks and insurance companies that used their clout last year to get a federal law passed that gave its blessing to such privacy abuses. If anything, legislators have been asleep at the switch regarding privacy -- they hardly can be accused of exploiting the issue.

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