For Bank Customers, a Violation of Trust

As Bank of America customers for more than 25 years, we were upset to learn that the bank has been selling our personal information to third parties without our knowledge [“Banks Say They Release Customers’ Data,” June 10].

We are not particularly annoyed if the bank wants to generate some additional revenue by providing our address to direct-mail companies or our phone number to telemarketers. We can always discard the junk mail and hang up on the telemarketers. However, we consider the release of our Social Security numbers and bank account number a serious breach of trust that exposes us to fraud and identity theft.

When the bank made the decision to release this information to third-party companies, what legitimate purpose did it think these companies had for our Social Security and bank account numbers?

KEN and BEVERLY HERR

Westlake Village

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I am appalled--as I imagine many thousands of other unsuspecting citizens are--that their hallowed, lily-white banking institutions have been secretly peddling personal information about them to make millions in addition to the huge profits they already earn from the use of funds deposited in their care.

This sleazy, under-the-table practice to make an extra buck is an outrageous invasion of privacy, and a federal law to halt this unconscionable violation of customer trust should be enacted immediately.

CHARLES F. QUEENAN

Encino

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The article unnerved me. What right do banks have to sell our private and personal information without our consent? I find this action a violation of trust.

I’ve asked my bank manager to inform me to whom they have sold my name, phone number, Social Security number and account number and demanded to know the amount of money they have made from selling that information. That money does not belong to the bank. It belongs to me.

KAY MOURADIAN

South Pasadena

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Editor’s note: Bank of America, Wells Fargo, U.S. Bancorp and Union Bank of California have said they will either discontinue or scale back the sharing of information about their customers with telemarketers and third-party companies.