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The Privacy of Consumer Financial Information Rule (Privacy Rule or Rule), 16 CFR part 313, requires among other things that certain motor vehicle dealers provide an annual disclosure of their privacy policies to their customers by hand delivery, mail, electronic delivery, or through a Website, but only with the consent of the consumer.

On June 24, 2015, the Commission proposed amending the Rule to allow motor vehicle dealers instead to notify their customers that a privacy policy is available on their Website, under certain circumstances. 80 FR 36267. The proposed amendment would also revise the scope and definitions in the Rule in light of the transfer of part of the Commission's rulemaking authority to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. In particular, the proposed amendment would clarify that the Commission’s Privacy Rule applies only to certain motor vehicle dealers, and not to a broader range of financial institutions as it had prior to the enactment of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. The comment period closed on August 31, 2015. Since the Commission proposed amending the Rule, Congress enacted the Fixing America's Surface Transportation Act (FAST Act) which included a provision amending the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act to create a new exception to the annual notice requirement. Staff anticipates that the Commission will take its next action, to include changes reflecting the FAST Act amendment, by late summer 2017.