Bill Requiring Notice of Breaches Goes Forward

HR 4127, also known as the Data Accountability and Trust Act (DATA), has apparently crossed a preliminary hurdle in the House by passing the House Energy and Commerce committee's Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection.

This bill, among others, is rather unpopular as it sets a very high threshold for requiring notification of consumers of security breaches. "Security breach" is defined in a way that requires "a reasonable basis to conclude that there is a significant risk of identity theft":

(1) BREACH OF SECURITY- The term `breach of security' means the unauthorized acquisition of data in electronic form containing personal information that establishes a reasonable basis to conclude that there is a significant risk of identity theft to the individual to whom the personal information relates. The encryption of such data, combined with appropriate safeguards of the keys necessary to enable decryption of such data, shall establish a presumption that no such reasonable basis exists. Any such presumption may be rebutted by facts demonstrating that the method of encryption has been or is likely to be compromised.

And by the way, it pre-empts all similar state laws.

Read about the latest and some commentary on the bill: Bill Requiring Notice of Breaches Goes Forward - Computerworld