---
kind: "section"
citation: "15 U.S.C. § 6821"
title: "15"
title_heading: "Commerce and Trade"
number: "6821"
heading: "Privacy protection for customer information of financial institutions"
release: "119-102"
date: "2026-07-12"
url: "https://uscodex.org/usc/15/6821"
units:
  - "Chapter 94 — Privacy"
  - "Subchapter II — Fraudulent Access to Financial Information"
---

# §6821. Privacy protection for customer information of financial institutions

- (a) **Prohibition on obtaining customer information by false pretenses—** It shall be a violation of this subchapter for any [person](/usc/15/7a.md?p=6) to obtain or attempt to obtain, or cause to be disclosed or attempt to cause to be disclosed to any [person](/usc/15/7a.md?p=6), [customer information of a financial institution](/usc/15/6827.md?p=2) relating to another [person](/usc/15/7a.md?p=6)—
  - (1) by making a false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement or representation to an officer, employee, or agent of a [financial institution](/usc/15/6809.md?p=3-A);
  - (2) by making a false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement or representation to a [customer](/usc/15/6827.md?p=1) of a [financial institution](/usc/15/6809.md?p=3-A); or
  - (3) by providing any [document](/usc/15/6827.md?p=3) to an officer, employee, or agent of a [financial institution](/usc/15/6809.md?p=3-A), knowing that the [document](/usc/15/6827.md?p=3) is forged, counterfeit, lost, or stolen, was fraudulently obtained, or contains a false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement or representation.
- (b) **Prohibition on solicitation of a person to obtain customer information from financial institution under false pretenses—** It shall be a violation of this subchapter to request a [person](/usc/15/7a.md?p=6) to obtain [customer information of a financial institution](/usc/15/6827.md?p=2), knowing that the [person](/usc/15/7a.md?p=6) will obtain, or attempt to obtain, the information from the institution in any manner described in [subsection (a)](#a).
- (c) **Nonapplicability to law enforcement agencies—** No provision of this section shall be construed so as to prevent any action by a law enforcement agency, or any officer, employee, or agent of such agency, to obtain [customer information of a financial institution](/usc/15/6827.md?p=2) in connection with the performance of the official duties of the agency.
- (d) **Nonapplicability to financial institutions in certain cases—** No provision of this section shall be construed so as to prevent any [financial institution](/usc/15/6809.md?p=3-A), or any officer, employee, or agent of a [financial institution](/usc/15/6809.md?p=3-A), from obtaining [customer](/usc/15/6827.md?p=1) information of such [financial institution](/usc/15/6809.md?p=3-A) in the course of—
  - (1) testing the security procedures or systems of such institution for maintaining the confidentiality of [customer](/usc/15/6827.md?p=1) information;
  - (2) investigating allegations of misconduct or negligence on the part of any officer, employee, or agent of the [financial institution](/usc/15/6809.md?p=3-A); or
  - (3) recovering [customer](/usc/15/6827.md?p=1) information of the [financial institution](/usc/15/6809.md?p=3-A) which was obtained or received by another [person](/usc/15/7a.md?p=6) in any manner described in subsection [(a)](#a) or [(b)](#b).
- (e) **Nonapplicability to insurance institutions for investigation of insurance fraud—** No provision of this section shall be construed so as to prevent any insurance institution, or any officer, employee, or agency of an insurance institution, from obtaining information as part of an insurance investigation into criminal activity, fraud, material misrepresentation, or material nondisclosure that is authorized for such institution under [State](/usc/15/15g.md?p=2) law, regulation, interpretation, or order.
- (f) **Nonapplicability to certain types of customer information of financial institutions—** No provision of this section shall be construed so as to prevent any [person](/usc/15/7a.md?p=6) from obtaining [customer information of a financial institution](/usc/15/6827.md?p=2) that otherwise is available as a public record filed pursuant to the securities laws (as defined in [section 78c(a)(47) of this title](/usc/15/78c.md?p=a-47)).
- (g) **Nonapplicability to collection of child support judgments—** No provision of this section shall be construed to prevent any [State](/usc/15/15g.md?p=2)-licensed private investigator, or any officer, employee, or agent of such private investigator, from obtaining [customer information of a financial institution](/usc/15/6827.md?p=2), to the extent reasonably necessary to collect child support from a [person](/usc/15/7a.md?p=6) adjudged to have been delinquent in his or her obligations by a Federal or [State](/usc/15/15g.md?p=2) court, and to the extent that such action by a [State](/usc/15/15g.md?p=2)-licensed private investigator is not unlawful under any other Federal or [State](/usc/15/15g.md?p=2) law or regulation, and has been authorized by an order or judgment of a court of competent jurisdiction.

## Source credit

(Pub. L. 106–102, title V, § 521, Nov. 12, 1999, 113 Stat. 1446.)