New rules on financial privacy spark furor; Credit bureaus, direct marketers protest limits on selling customer info.(Brief Article)

Credit bureaus and direct marketers are hopping mad over the anticipated impact of new financial privacy legislation.

Marketers did not expect the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act to have much effect on the way they do business. But as part of 159 pages of rules implementing the act, the Federal Trade Commission bans credit companies from selling name and address information from credit reports unless consumers have been given the chance to opt out. The ban becomes effective July 1, 2001.

While limited in scope, the so-called "header" information is widely used by marketers to verify information on prospective customers and to update lists. It is also used by …