Lane von Herzen: Do America's Consumer Banks Avoid Upholding Consumer Privacy Protections Through Filing Unauthorized Complaints in the Name of Consumers?

My Third Novel's Conclusion, My Heartbreak

My heart begins to break when I think about completing this particular book -- because this narrative has sustained me like no other story I've known. It's both more personal and more universal than my other works. But beyond memory and archetype, it's a cri-de-coeur about needing to become the person one is destined to be. And in the writing, I have met my own life's work, my own fated journey -- having the sense all the while that the pages are suffused with a resonance, an energy, an electrified field that defies explanation. Writers hope and pray to be overtaken by a work in this way -- to be conscripted into passionate service of a profound story. To experience it even once in a lifetime seems a great privilege. I still have several months before this novel is complete, and this constitutes my reprieve. Because I'm not ready for the beauty to end.

Wednesday, February 7, 2024

Do America's Consumer Banks Avoid Upholding Consumer Privacy Protections Through Filing Unauthorized Complaints in the Name of Consumers?

OIG Hotline, please be apprised that Bank of America appears to have wrongfully filed a complaint in my name on January 16, 2024. Another customer service representative from Bank of America attempted to file yet another unauthorized complaint in my name today.

Wells Fargo engaged in this same stratagem last spring when I withdrew my accounts from their institution.

The reason behind the banks' filing of unconsented complaints appears to be related to a loophole in the California Consumer Privacy Act, which allows companies to retain personal information about customers, despite data deletion requests under CCPA, if they have given any indication to the company of an intent to sue.

As a result, in my experience, banking personnel have been wrongfully filing complaints under my name without my knowledge or approval.

The following communications to Bank of America via email today are intended to address this issue directly.

Thank you for allowing me to address this concern regarding consumer privacy protections, which are so fundamental to the workings of our democracy.

Most sincerely,