Could Federal Data Protection Law Be Coming?

Data breaches have become commonplace, almost to the point where it seems like the public is no longer phased when another one is announced. It seems like when another one happens the company pledges to do better and the media and public moves on. That has been slowly starting to change and the issue has begun to attract lawmakers in Washington. Is this just lip service or could meaningful change actually come from this?

Following the announcement of the massive Marriott data breach last year that compromised the information of as many as 500 million guests lawmakers in Washington began to call for consumer protection legislation. Senator Mark Warner (D-Virginia) the then vice-chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee and the co-founder of the Cybersecurity Caucus was the first to publicly call for action. Several other Senators echoed his sentiments.

This comes on the heels of the introduction of the Consumer Data Protection Act by Senator Ron Wyden (D-Oregon) which threatens CEOs with possible jail time if they are found to have lied about their data protection efforts. It seems like our lawmakers are finally getting serious about taking action.

Now obviously no legislation regarding consumer protection has been drafted much less introduced both due to the new Congressional term and the subsequent government shutdown. Considering the threat to the public one would figure that this would be a bipartisan issue that should be able to be tackled with as little bloviation as possible. We shall see.

The fallout of data breaches can be enormous and can cost a merchant their business and way of life. It is not something to be trifled with but unfortunately too many simply let it go or neglect security. Do you know what companies do not have data breaches? Companies that meet and maintain PCI compliance! If you need help with meeting PCI compliance or need to get serious about it give JLE Business Consultants a call and we can help you out.