Right to Financial Privacy Act

E864725

The Right to Financial Privacy Act is a U.S. federal law that restricts government access to individuals’ financial records held by banks, generally requiring customer consent or a warrant, subpoena, or formal written request.

Try in SPARQL Jump to: Surface forms Statements Referenced by

All labels observed (1)

Label Occurrences
Right to Financial Privacy Act canonical 1

Statements (49)

Predicate Object
instanceOf United States federal statute
privacy law
allows customers to sue the United States for violations of the Act
recovery of actual damages for violations
recovery of costs and attorney’s fees for prevailing customers
recovery of statutory damages in some cases
appliesTo customers of financial institutions
financial institutions
codifiedAs Title 12 of the United States Code
contains exceptions for certain emergency situations
exceptions for certain law enforcement and intelligence activities
exceptions for supervisory and regulatory examinations of financial institutions
country United States of America
surface form: United States
doesNotApplyTo financial records obtained by private parties without government involvement
state and local government access unless federal funds or agencies are involved
effectiveDate 1978
enactedBy United States Congress
enforcementBy federal agencies’ internal compliance mechanisms
federal courts
establishes notice requirements to customers when their financial records are sought by the government
procedures for federal agencies to obtain financial records
focusesOn records maintained by financial institutions about individuals
imposes recordkeeping obligations on financial institutions regarding government requests
requirements on federal agencies seeking financial records
influencedBy concerns about government access to bank records following Supreme Court decisions such as United States v. Miller
jurisdiction United States government
surface form: federal government of the United States
limits disclosure of financial records to federal agencies
policyGoal to balance law enforcement needs with individual financial privacy
presidentAtEnactment Jimmy Carter NERFINISHED
protects customers of banks
customers of credit unions
customers of savings and loan associations
provides civil remedies for customers whose rights are violated
criminal penalties for certain unauthorized disclosures in conjunction with other statutes
limited exceptions to customer notice requirements
purpose to protect the confidentiality of personal financial records held by financial institutions
to restrict government access to customers’ financial records
regulates access by federal government agencies to financial records
relatedTo Bank Secrecy Act NERFINISHED
Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution NERFINISHED
Gramm–Leach–Bliley Act NERFINISHED
requires certification by government authorities that they have complied with the Act when requesting records
customer authorization for most government access to financial records
warrant, subpoena, or formal written request for government access to financial records in most cases
shortName RFPA NERFINISHED
signedBy Jimmy Carter
subjectMatter financial privacy
government surveillance of financial records
yearEnacted 1978

Referenced by (1)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Banking Code of the United States includes Right to Financial Privacy Act