Lockyer

The question in this appeal is whether the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (“FCRA”) preempts the California Financial Information Privacy Act (commonly known as “SB1”) insofar as it regulates the exchange of information among financial institutions and their affiliates. The district court granted summary judgment to the Attorney General, holding that SB1 is not preempted in any respect. We reverse. We hold that the FCRA preempts at least some part of SBl’s affiliate-sharing provisions. Because there is a possibility that some part of these provisions may survive preemption, we remand to the district court for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.

I. Background

The FCRA was passed in 1970 with the stated purpose of

15 U.S.C. § 1681 (b). To accomplish this goal, the FCRA regulates the issuance and use of “consumer reports” by “consumer reporting agencies.” The term “consumer report” is defined by the FCRA as “any written, oral, or other communication of any information by a consumer reporting agency bearing on a consumer’s credit worthiness, credit standing, credit capacity, character, general reputation, personal characteristics, or mode of living” that is or is…