U.S. legislators have proposed another bill that addresses data leaks and that resembles a state law that has been in effect in California for the last three years. The new bill will force companies to notify customers of all leaks affecting their personal data. According to experts at InfoWatch, it is now time for the lawmakers to finally opt for one of the numerous bills already put forward.
Another bill that would force commercial organizations to reveal all incidents linked to leaks of customers’ confidential and private data is being considered by the U.S. House of Representatives. The draft law is entitled the Data Accountability and Trust Act (DATA), reports Silicon.com. The bill, which has been approved by the House Energy and Commerce Committee, stipulates that consumers have to be told if their privacy has been violated because of a breach.
The latest bill and those that preceded it are aimed at combating identity theft. According to U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) figures, identity theft cost American consumers $5 billion and businesses $48 billion last year.
If the DATA bill is adopted, the FTC can implement regulations for the protection of private data, as well as forcing companies to significantly increase security for up to five years after an incident. In the case of a leak the FTC can carry out audits and hold those guilty of data theft accountable.
A similar law — the Security Breach Information Act (SB1389) — has been in force for the last three years in the state of California. In that time it has exposed a number of large confidential data leaks and drawn the attention of both the public and the authorities to the problem of identity theft.
“I think it’s time that American legislators made a decision on which of the numerous bills to adopt as a federal law. Before New Year analysts were unanimous in the belief that a nationwide law would be passed in the first half of 2006; that is now highly unlikely. But the situation has to be resolved because businesses are struggling with the array of legislation regulating confidential information leaks in each state," says Denis Zenkin, marketing director at InfoWatch.
Source: Silicon.com
