On Disclosures and Data Leaks

Below are several stories that I thought would be of interest. The first deals with checking account disclosure documents at the largest credit unions. The other story looks at an erroneous data leak of members' information from Bethpage FCU.

A New York Times blog, citing a recent Pew Charitable Trust report, noted that credit union checking account disclosure documents at the 10 largest credit unions had room for improvement. While credit union checking account documents are shorter than bank disclosures, the report found that credit union documents do not disclose information that would allow a customer to compare account fees, terms and conditions. The Pew Report also found that credit unions are prone to using confusing terminology making it difficult for consumers to compare accounts.

The Long Island Press is reporting that Bethpage Federal Credit Union erroneously posted for a month on the Internet limited personal and financial data of nearly 86,000 members The information that made it onto an unsecured website included members’ names, addresses, dates of birth, expiration dates of cards, checking and savings account numbers. But the leaked information did not include members’ Social Security numbers, PIN numbers or three-digit security codes. According to NewsDay, the leaked data was discovered by an employee's child doing a Google search on the child's name.