A 60 Minutes II segment on consumer data use within the financial services industry is set to air on April 30, producer Harry Moses confirmed. The program will be broadcast on the CBS network.
Moses noted that 60 Minutes II is a news program, and that breaking events can always cause a last-minute preemption.
The piece, which was researched during the fall Direct Marketing Association conference, will feature Vinod Gupta, chairman and CEO of infoUSA. A 60 Minutes II crew did some follow-up filming at infoUSA’s Omaha, NE office earlier this year.
In addition to Gupta, California state senator Jackie Spier, who has long been an advocate of consumer privacy, Mike Nevin, a San Mateo county supervisor, and Phil Anderson, executive director of the Financial Services Coordinating Counsel, a coalition of four financial service trade associations will also share their opinions.
The piece is focusing on the California legislators in light of their efforts to establish county-by-county – and in some cases, statewide – data protection legislation.
Earlier, Moses had said that the segment will "spark some debate" on consumer data use within the financial services industry.
Representatives from data service firms Experian and TransUnion had also been approached for comment, but a spokesperson for Experian said that the show’s questions were all over the lot, and that he was not comfortable setting up the crew with Experian executives without a clearer sense of the piece’s focus.
A TransUnion spokesperson said that he had not received a follow-up call after initially speaking with the crew at the DMA conference.
As reported earlier, Gupta was not reticent about appearing on camera. "I think it’s stupid not to talk to the press. If we do not talk to them our views will never be made public," he said.
"We have to give our opinions as to why we do things. If we don’t participate, then the other party gets to say their views, and we don’t get the chance."
