Are there laws limiting or preventing the sale of personal information to other businesses?
Robert Schroeder: The Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act requires financial institutions to tell you each year what they intend to do with your personal information and give you an opportunity to tell them not to. The Federal Trade Commission’s Telemarketing Sales Rule prohibits selling or purchasing credit card numbers. Most legitimate companies post privacy policies on their websites so you can decide whether you feel sufficiently protected to do business with them.