The objective of this act was to protect consumers’ personal financial information held by financial institutions and their service providers.

The Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA), also known as the Financial Services Modernization Act of 1999, mandates that financial institutions protect the security and confidentiality of their customers' nonpublic personal information (NPI). It has two key rules relevant to this objective: The Financial Privacy Rule, which governs the collection and disclosure of customers' personal financial information, and the Safeguards Rule, which requires financial institutions to implement security programs to protect such information. The act's primary purpose is to ensure that companies offering financial products or services explain their information-sharing practices and safeguard sensitive consumer data against unauthorized access or use.

B. Sarbanes-Oxley 2002: This act focuses on corporate governance, accountability, and the accuracy of financial reporting for public companies, not on protecting consumer personal financial data.
C. California SB 1386: This is a state-level law that pioneered data breach notification requirements, obligating companies to inform residents of security breaches involving their personal information.
D. HIPAA: The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act is a federal law that protects the privacy and security of individuals' medical records and other protected health information (PHI).

1. Federal Trade Commission (FTC). "Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act." The official FTC page states, "The Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act requires financial institutions...to explain their information-sharing practices to their customers and to safeguard sensitive data." This directly aligns with the question's objective. (Available at: https://www.ftc.gov/business-guidance/privacy-security/gramm-leach-bliley-act)

2. FDIC Consumer Compliance Examination Manual. (July 2022). Section V – Privacy, "V-1.1 Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act." This manual details the act's purpose: "The privacy provisions of the GLBA are intended to protect and prohibit the disclosure of nonpublic personal information of consumers."

3. Cornell Law School, Legal Information Institute (LII). "15 U.S. Code § 6801 - Protection of nonpublic personal information." The text of the law explicitly states its policy: "(a) It is the policy of the Congress that each financial institution has an affirmative and continuing obligation to respect the privacy of its customers and to protect the security and confidentiality of those customers’ nonpublic personal information." (Available at: https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/15/6801)

4. Swire, P., & Litan, R. E. (2002). None of Your Business: World Data Flows, Electronic Commerce, and the European Privacy Directive. Brookings Institution Press. Chapter 7, "The Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act," discusses the act's core function as the primary U.S. federal law governing the privacy of personal financial information.