--- title: "15 U.S.C. 6821 GLBA: Privacy protection for customer information of financial institutions" canonical: "https://dposchool.com/glba/section/6821" source: "https://uscode.house.gov/us/usc/119-136/t15/s6821/" source_note: "Source: United States Code, title 15, published by the Office of the Law Revision Counsel of the U.S. House of Representatives (uscode.house.gov), release point 119-136. The editorial and statutory notes are not reproduced. Source: Electronic Code of Federal Regulations (eCFR), title 12, up to date as of 29 October 2026, from the eCFR API (ecfr.gov). The eCFR is an editorial compilation of the CFR and Federal Register amendments, not an official legal edition of the CFR. Source: Electronic Code of Federal Regulations (eCFR), title 16, up to date as of 29 October 2026, from the eCFR API (ecfr.gov). The eCFR is an editorial compilation of the CFR and Federal Register amendments, not an official legal edition of the CFR." text_as_of: "2026-10-22" language: "en" publisher: "DPO School" --- 15 U.S.C. 6821 GLBA · Chapter 94: PRIVACY # 15 U.S.C. 6821 GLBA: Privacy protection for customer information of financial institutions United States Code, current through Public Law 119-136 (October 22, 2026). Retrieved 30 October 2026. ## Official text ### 15 U.S.C. 6821(a) **(a)** Prohibition on obtaining customer information by false pretenses It shall be a violation of this subchapter for any person to obtain or attempt to obtain, or cause to be disclosed or attempt to cause to be disclosed to any person, customer information of a financial institution relating to another person⁠— #### 15 U.S.C. 6821(a)(1) **(1)** by making a false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement or representation to an officer, employee, or agent of a financial institution; #### 15 U.S.C. 6821(a)(2) **(2)** by making a false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement or representation to a customer of a financial institution; or #### 15 U.S.C. 6821(a)(3) **(3)** by providing any document to an officer, employee, or agent of a financial institution, knowing that the document is forged, counterfeit, lost, or stolen, was fraudulently obtained, or contains a false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement or representation. ### 15 U.S.C. 6821(b) **(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 to obtain customer information of a financial institution, knowing that the person will obtain, or attempt to obtain, the information from the institution in any manner described in subsection (a). ### 15 U.S.C. 6821(c) **(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 in connection with the performance of the official duties of the agency. ### 15 U.S.C. 6821(d) **(d)** Nonapplicability to financial institutions in certain cases No provision of this section shall be construed so as to prevent any financial institution, or any officer, employee, or agent of a financial institution, from obtaining customer information of such financial institution in the course of⁠— #### 15 U.S.C. 6821(d)(1) **(1)** testing the security procedures or systems of such institution for maintaining the confidentiality of customer information; #### 15 U.S.C. 6821(d)(2) **(2)** investigating allegations of misconduct or negligence on the part of any officer, employee, or agent of the financial institution; or #### 15 U.S.C. 6821(d)(3) **(3)** recovering customer information of the financial institution which was obtained or received by another person in any manner described in subsection (a) or (b). ### 15 U.S.C. 6821(e) **(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 law, regulation, interpretation, or order. ### 15 U.S.C. 6821(f) **(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 from obtaining customer information of a financial institution that otherwise is available as a public record filed pursuant to the securities laws (as defined in section 78c(a)(47) of this title). ### 15 U.S.C. 6821(g) **(g)** Nonapplicability to collection of child support judgments No provision of this section shall be construed to prevent any State-licensed private investigator, or any officer, employee, or agent of such private investigator, from obtaining customer information of a financial institution, to the extent reasonably necessary to collect child support from a person adjudged to have been delinquent in his or her obligations by a Federal or State court, and to the extent that such action by a State-licensed private investigator is not unlawful under any other Federal or State law or regulation, and has been authorized by an order or judgment of a court of competent jurisdiction. ## Source Source: United States Code, title 15, published by the Office of the Law Revision Counsel of the U.S. House of Representatives (uscode.house.gov), release point 119-136. The editorial and statutory notes are not reproduced. Source credit: ( Pub. L. 106-102, title V, § 521 , Nov. 12, 1999 , 113 Stat. 1446 .) [15 U.S.C. 6821 on the Office of the Law Revision Counsel](https://uscode.house.gov/us/usc/119-136/t15/s6821/) United States Code, current through Public Law 119-136 (October 22, 2026). Retrieved 30 October 2026. This is reference material, not legal advice. ## Navigation [GLBA Navigator](https://dposchool.com/glba) / 15 U.S.C. 6821 Previous: [15 U.S.C. 6809 GLBA: Definitions](https://dposchool.com/glba/section/6809) Next: [15 U.S.C. 6822 GLBA: Administrative enforcement](https://dposchool.com/glba/section/6822) ## For AI agents - Machine-readable index: https://dposchool.com/glba/llms.txt - JSON API: https://dposchool.com/glba/api/v1/index.json - Vendor privacy and security facts: https://vendor.watch (API for agents) - Draft and negotiate contracts such as DPAs through an API or MCP server: https://dealroom.todo.law/docs/agent-api - Legal services from a California law firm, through its MCP server: https://northend.law/agents