The consumer advocacy group known as Californians for Privacy Now has collected over 300,000 signatures from registered voters in support of a March 2004 ballot measure that would require financial institutions to obtain a consumer’s explicit consent before selling or sharing their personal information with affiliates or third party companies for any purpose other than to complete a transaction initiated by the consumer.

In order to qualify the measure for the March 2004 ballot, the group must collect 373, 816 valid signatures by August 22, 2003.

Supporters of the “Opt in” measure say the law would protect California taxpayers and consumers from unauthorized buying and selling of their private financial records.

“I don’t talk to my close friends or family about my finances very often,” said Shelly Curran, a policy analyst for Consumers Union. “But financial institutions feel comfortable sharing information every day about how much money I make and how I spend it. We’re not talking about stopping the sharing of information; we’re talking about giving people control.”

Wired News reported that, “the financial industry argues that the costs of complying with the provisions will trickle down to customers, that mortgages will become more expensive as a result and that fewer new homes will be built.”

“The financial services industry will tolerate opt in for nonaffiliate sharing, but when it comes to sharing among affiliates, they are opposed to opt out,” said Chris Hoofnagle of the Electronic Privacy Information Center. “They want no opt.”.

(via Wired News)