The government of Nation X restricts how banks share customers' information with other institutions. For instance, unless a customer explicitly...
GMAT Two Part Analysis : (TPA) Questions
The government of Nation X restricts how banks share customers' information with other institutions. For instance, unless a customer explicitly grants permission, no nonpublic information about the customer—e.g., account balances or credit history—can be shared with any non-affiliated institution. Furthermore, banks must allow customers to forbid the sharing of even publicly available information about them, such as listed telephone numbers, with non-affiliated institutions. The bank must honor any decision the customer makes in these cases; however, none of these restrictions limits the sharing of these types of information with any affiliated institutions. All sharing of information other than the types mentioned above is permitted—except that under no circumstances may customers' passwords be shared, even with affiliated institutions. The government of Nation X also requires that banks inform customers of all of these policies.
Select for With an affiliated institution the circumstances under which the government of Nation X allows a bank to share a customer's account balance with an affiliated institution and for With a non-affiliated institution the circumstances under which the government of Nation X allows a bank to share a customer's account balance with a non-affiliated institution. Make only two selections, one in each column.
Phase 1: Owning the Dataset
Argument Analysis Table
| Passage Statement | Analysis & Implications |
|---|---|
| "unless a customer explicitly grants permission, no nonpublic information about the customer—e.g., account balances or credit history—can be shared with any non-affiliated institution" |
|
| "none of these restrictions limits the sharing of these types of information with any affiliated institutions" |
|
| "All sharing of information other than the types mentioned above is permitted—except that under no circumstances may customers' passwords be shared" |
|
Key Patterns Identified
- Two-tier system: Different rules for affiliated vs non-affiliated institutions
- Account balances = nonpublic information (explicitly stated)
- Affiliated institutions: No restrictions on nonpublic info sharing
- Non-affiliated institutions: Explicit permission required for nonpublic info
Phase 2: Question Analysis & Prethinking
Understanding Each Part
- Part 1 Focus: When can banks share account balances with affiliated institutions?
- Part 2 Focus: When can banks share account balances with non-affiliated institutions?
- Relationship: These show the contrast between affiliated and non-affiliated sharing rules
Valid Inferences (Prethinking)
- For affiliated institutions: Since no restrictions apply, banks can share account balances freely
- For non-affiliated institutions: Since explicit permission is required for nonpublic info, banks can only share when customer explicitly allows it
Phase 3: Answer Choice Evaluation
Analyzing Each Option:
"All circumstances"
- What it claims: No restrictions on sharing
- Fact Support: Matches passage statement about affiliated institutions having no restrictions
- Part Suitability: Perfect for Part 1 (affiliated), wrong for Part 2
"Upon informing the customer that it will"
- What it claims: Notification is sufficient
- Fact Support: Passage requires banks to inform about policies, but this doesn't override permission requirements
- Part Suitability: Neither part - notification alone isn't enough
"Only if a customer has not explicitly forbidden it"
- What it claims: Default is allowed unless customer opts out
- Fact Support: This applies to publicly available info, NOT nonpublic info like account balances
- Part Suitability: Neither part - wrong category of information
"Only if a customer has explicitly granted permission"
- What it claims: Requires affirmative customer consent
- Fact Support: Exactly matches passage requirement for nonpublic info to non-affiliated institutions
- Part Suitability: Perfect for Part 2 (non-affiliated), wrong for Part 1
"No circumstances"
- What it claims: Complete prohibition
- Fact Support: Only applies to passwords, not account balances
- Part Suitability: Neither part
Final Selection
- Part 1 (Affiliated Institution): "All circumstances" - The passage explicitly states no restrictions apply
- Part 2 (Non-affiliated Institution): "Only if a customer has explicitly granted permission" - Direct requirement from passage
These answers create a complete picture: affiliated institutions have unrestricted access while non-affiliated institutions need explicit permission.