Law Commons^™

Contracting For Financial Privacy: The Rights Of Banks And Customers Under The Reauthorized Patriot Act, Aditi A. Prabhu

Loyola University Chicago Law Journal

The 2001 Patriot Act chipped away financial privacy protections by allowing law enforcement authorities easier access to bank customer records. Under the Patriot Act, federal authorities may access customer records by issuing formal subpoena-like requests under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act ("FISA") or informal national security letters ("NSLs") to banks while prohibiting notice to any affected customers. However, the 2006 revisions to the Patriot Act permit banks to challenge FISA requests and NSLs in federal court before releasing customer records. While the Act does not require banks to make these challenges on behalf of their customers, this Article will argue …