WASHINGTON Sen. Richard C. Shelby, R-Ala., asked the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency on Friday to determine whether First Union Corp.s involvement in a multicompany customer data sharing system conflicts with federal privacy requirements.
Sen. Shelby raised these concerns after The Washington Post reported last week that First Union was among several dozen members of the Customer Profile Exchange network, which is designed to make it easier for different computer systems to share consumers names, identification numbers and behavioral data.
Though it belongs to the exchange, First Union has not determined if it will use the data-sharing technology, a company spokeswoman said.
First Union serves as a member of a number of networks to stay informed of new technologies and how those technologies will benefit our customers, the banking company said in a statement issued Friday. We are a member of the Customer Profile Exchange network. However, our top priority is clearly serving our customers, and we would not use technology that would violate the privacy or security of our customer information.
In his letter, Sen. Shelby asked the Comptrollers Office if First Union must notify its customers of its relationship with the exchange, including whether it will exchange information with companies that make money mining individual customer data.
