• Credit
• Data Breach
• Fraud
• Identity Theft
• Other News
• Privacy
• Reviews
• Scams
• Tips
• Truston

« Previous Post | Blog Home | Next Post »

New data security bill introduced

Posted on Jul 3, 2006 by Tom Fragala

Computerworld has the story. One of the key issues around any attempt at a federal data security/breach law is whether it preempts and waters down any existing state laws.

A bill introduced yesterday by Sen. Bob Bennett (R-Utah) and Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.), both of whom serve on the Senate Banking Committee, joins a growing list of data security measures now pending before Congress. The proposed Data Security Act of 2006 seeks to create a national data protection and breach notification standard.

There are already at least 10 other pieces of legislation pending before Congress, all of them introduced before the VA breach. Among them is the Financial Data Protection Act of 2005, which the House Financial Services Committee passed in March. That proposed legislation has drawn intense criticism from privacy advocacy groups who say it would undermine stronger state laws already in place by giving companies too much leeway in deciding when to disclose breaches.

Another example of pending legislation is the Data Accountability and Trust Act (DATA), which was introduced in October by Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-Fla.). That bill would require companies to notify consumers of security breaches involving their data and would give the Federal Trade Commission the authority to enforce compliance.