A number of healthcare advocacy, provider and consumer groups fear changes to new medical privacy rules could give a “green light” to banks and other financial institutions to access sensitive, personal medical information.

“Financial institutions have expressed strong interest in data mining information they obtain through transactions and in using this information for marketing to their existing customers, finding new customers and evaluating credit risks,” the Health Privacy Project, the Electronic Privacy Information Center and 28 other groups said in a letter to HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson. The groups are protesting lobbying by some in the financial services industry to roll back “critical consumer protection.”

Current HIPAA privacy regulations prohibit financial institutions from accessing health information for data mining purposes, according to the Health Privacy Project.