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US: Bill to Force Data Theft Notices

  • 28-06-2003 1:09am
    #1
    sceptre
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 19,608 ✭✭✭✭


    Even if it gets through, my money says Bush won't be signing it

    http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,59419,00.html

    10:24 AM Jun. 27, 2003 PT

    Senator Dianne Feinstein introduced a bill that forces companies to notify customers whenever crackers get access to sensitive information, such as social security numbers or credit cards.
    Under the bill, the Notification of Risk to Personal Data Act, organizations that fail to promptly notify individuals of an intrusion could face a $5,000 fine from the Federal Trade Commission and up to $25,000 in fines per day that the organization delays notification to individuals.

    Feinstein modeled the bill, introduced Thursday, on California state legislation that goes into effect on July 1. The California law would require any company, regardless of location, to promptly notify its California customers if the company suspects that hackers had stolen personal data.

    "I strongly believe individuals have a right to be notified when their most sensitive information is compromised, because it is truly their information," Feinstein said in a written statement. "This is both a matter of principle and a practical measure to curb identity theft."

    Jamie Court, executive director of the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights, was delighted by the announcement, calling the bill "a winner."

    "We need to start to take these protections to a national level," Court said. "I think (financial privacy issues) are going to become the national battlefield for populist issues. As California goes, so goes the nation."

    The bill would require organizations to e-mail or send letters to individuals. If a company does not have that information or if that is too costly, the company would have to inform the media and post notices on its website.

    Unlike the California law, Feinstein's bill does not provide a way for individuals to sue if data about them is released. However, the bill doesn't specifically protect companies from private or class-action lawsuits, and does not pre-empt California's law.

    The bill seeks to help curb the growing problem of identity theft. The Federal Trade Commission said that it received 161,819 reports of identity theft in 2002 alone. Just last February, one of the biggest database spills occurred when a cracker gained access to up to 8 million credit card numbers by breaking into a computer at Data Processors International, a credit card processing firm.

    Individuals who receive notification would be able to cancel their cards and contact credit bureaus to prevent an identity thief from opening new accounts.


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