Data Privacy and Security Bill moves to Full Senate

The Data Privacy And Security Bill that we mentioned previously has now been passed by the Senate Judiciary Panel. The Federal Bill is supported by Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, and the Panel’s ranking member, Arlen Specter.

On May 3, Leahy announced that The Personal Data Privacy and Security Act (S. 495) had passed the Panel by voice vote and would now move to the full Senate for consideration.

The proposed legislation would give consumers more protection from identity theft and its devastating effects. The bill would provide protections against security breaches and the misuse of personal information; it would also give consumers access to correct their own personal information.

The legislation would require that large companies use security programs & encryption technology, that they investigate their contractors more closely, and that they notify consumers, law enforcement & credit agencies of a data breach.

“This is a bill that deals with the underlying problem of lax security and lack of accountability to help prevent data breaches from occurring in the first place and also addresses the need to provide Americans with better notice of breaches that may affect their personal information,” Leahy said during the panel’s debate on the bill. “Passing this comprehensive privacy legislation is a legislative priority.”

It is expected that some provisions of the proposed bill will meet stiff resistance by the Senate and House of Representatives. One of the most debated issues is the definition of data breach – determining when it is ’significant enough’ to trigger a notification.

Security legislation has been very active in the past few weeks:

• The Notification of Risk to Personal Data Act, sponsored by Senator Dianne Feinstein, also passed through the Judiciary Panel. This act, unlike the Leahy-Specter act, would require disclosure only if the breach posed ‘reasonable risk’ of harm, which could be more lenient to businesses.
• The Identity Theft Prevention Act of 2007, passed last week, also takes this approach. The latter bill is the only to propose that consumers have the right to freeze their credit file.
• Representative Tom Davis introduced, on May 3, the Federal Agency Data Breach Protection Act, to require federal agencies to notify consumers of a breach.

The number of legislative bills currently addressing data security and privacy issues reflects the growing public concern about identity theft as a result of data breaches. The Leahy-Specter & Feinstein bills were passed separately and, although they are similar in scope, were both passed in order to improve the chances of at least one getting through.

Via Washington Post & ZDNet Asia ; Tags: data privacy, data breach, data security, security legislation, security bill, leahy, specter, feinstein, identity theft