CPA's Exempt from Privacy Disclosure - Is this a good thing?

According to this information from the AICPA, CPA's are no longer subject to the privacy disclosure provisions of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act. Obviously they have an effective lobby in Washington! Is this change a good thing? I'll let you decide but from an IT person in the field perspective I've found that CPA's are often less tech savvy and security savvy than most other business owners. (My clients excepted, of course.) :)


*IT E-Alert: Congress Passes CPA Exemption from Privacy Disclosure
Provisions*

Over the weekend, Congress passed an exemption for CPAs from the privacy disclosure provisions of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLB), apparently recognizing that our Code of Professional Conduct already protected the confidentiality of client information. We expect the President's signature shortly.

As a result of this exemption, you will no longer have to send out annual privacy disclosure statements to each of your individual clients, detailing the financial information you retain and what disclosures of that information you may make. These disclosure statements were expensive, time consuming, and often confusing to clients.

Please note that the new legislation does not exempt CPAs from the "safeguards" provisions of GLB, which require you to (1) secure client information; and (2) have written procedures to protect client financial information. However CPAs typically have more than adequate security measures and documentation to meet these requirements.

For further information, please see the AICPA's press release here .