16 CFR 680.23 – Contents of opt-out notice; consolidated and equivalent notices
(a) Contents of opt-out notice—(1) In general. A notice must be clear, conspicuous, and concise, and must accurately disclose:
Terms Used In 16 CFR 680.23
- Act: means the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U. See 16 CFR 680.3
- affiliate: means any company that is related by common ownership or common corporate control with another company. See 16 CFR 680.3
- concise: means a reasonably brief expression or statement. See 16 CFR 680.3
- consumer: means an individual. See 16 CFR 680.3
- eligibility information: means any information the communication of which would be a consumer report if the exclusions from the definition of "consumer report" in section 603(d)(2)(A) of the Act did not apply. See 16 CFR 680.3
(i) The name of the affiliate(s) providing the notice. If the notice is provided jointly by multiple affiliates and each affiliate shares a common name, such as “ABC,” then the notice may indicate that it is being provided by multiple companies with the ABC name or multiple companies in the ABC group or family of companies, for example, by stating that the notice is provided by “all of the ABC companies,” “the ABC banking, credit card, insurance, and securities companies,” or by listing the name of each affiliate providing the notice. But if the affiliates providing the joint notice do not all share a common name, then the notice must either separately identify each affiliate by name or identify each of the common names used by those affiliates, for example, by stating that the notice is provided by “all of the ABC and XYZ companies” or by “the ABC banking and credit card companies and the XYZ insurance companies;”
(ii) A list of the affiliates or types of affiliates whose use of eligibility information is covered by the notice, which may include companies that become affiliates after the notice is provided to the consumer. If each affiliate covered by the notice shares a common name, such as “ABC,” then the notice may indicate that it applies to multiple companies with the ABC name or multiple companies in the ABC group or family of companies, for example, by stating that the notice is provided by “all of the ABC companies,” “the ABC banking, credit card, insurance, and securities companies,” or by listing the name of each affiliate providing the notice. But if the affiliates covered by the notice do not all share a common name, then the notice must either separately identify each covered affiliate by name or identify each of the common names used by those affiliates, for example, by stating that the notice applies to “all of the ABC and XYZ companies” or to “the ABC banking and credit card companies and the XYZ insurance companies;”
(iii) A general description of the types of eligibility information that may be used to make solicitations to the consumer;
(iv) That the consumer may elect to limit the use of eligibility information to make solicitations to the consumer;
(v) That the consumer’s election will apply for the specified period of time stated in the notice and, if applicable, that the consumer will be allowed to renew the election once that period expires;
(vi) If the notice is provided to consumers who may have previously opted out, such as if a notice is provided to consumers annually, that the consumer who has chosen to limit solicitations does not need to act again until the consumer receives a renewal notice; and
(vii) A reasonable and simple method for the consumer to opt out.
(2) Joint relationships. (i) If two or more consumers jointly obtain a product or service, a single opt-out notice may be provided to the joint consumers. Any of the joint consumers may exercise the right to opt out.
(ii) The opt-out notice must explain how an opt-out direction by a joint consumer will be treated. An opt-out direction by a joint consumer may be treated as applying to all of the associated joint consumers, or each joint consumer may be permitted to opt out separately. If each joint consumer is permitted to opt out separately, one of the joint consumers must be permitted to opt out on behalf of all of the joint consumers and the joint consumers must be permitted to exercise their separate rights to opt out in a single response.
(iii) It is impermissible to require all joint consumers to opt out before implementing any opt-out direction.
(3) Alternative contents. If the consumer is afforded a broader right to opt out of receiving marketing than is required by this part, the requirements of this section may be satisfied by providing the consumer with a clear, conspicuous, and concise notice that accurately discloses the consumer’s opt-out rights.
(4) Model notices. Model notices are provided in appendix B of part 698 of this chapter.
(b) Coordinated and consolidated notices. A notice required by this part may be coordinated and consolidated with any other notice or disclosure required to be issued under any other provision of law by the entity providing the notice, including but not limited to the notice de-scribed in section 603(d)(2)(A)(iii) of the Act and the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act privacy notice.
(c) Equivalent notices. A notice or other disclosure that is equivalent to the notice required by this part, and that is provided to a consumer together with disclosures required by any other provision of law, satisfies the requirements of this section.