Bryan praises first meeting of Privacy Caucus

WASHINGTON - Sen. Richard Bryan, D-Nev., says Wednesday's meeting of the bipartisan, bicameral congressional Privacy Caucus is an historic event in consumer protection.

"The members of the Privacy Caucus have coalesced behind a simple proposition - that it is the consumer that ought to be the gatekeeper to their own financial and other personal information, not the banks, the insurance companies and the other institutions," he told fellow members of the group.

Bryan said there are too many cases of companies such as U.S. Bancorp for selling confidential and highly personal customer information to telemarketing outfits. That case was settled recently, along with another, similar case against Chase Manhattan.

Bryan said he hopes the Privacy Caucus can work on a bipartisan basis to expose the "underworld of information sharing."

"What is for sale? The real question is what isn't for sale," said Bryan.