As a result of the increasing vulnerability of personal and confidential data in the Information Age, legislation is being proposed that would require companies to notify users of potential data breaches, their implications, and best practices next steps in securing their information in the immediate and in the future.
This pressing need is most demonstrated by a couple of attempts, including one mentioned, to propose legislation that would require companies to be more proactive in alerting their clients of potential data breaches.
House Bill 15 proposed by Bill Lehm of Bernalillo County, New Mexico, would require data breaches that affect more than 1,000 users be documented by companies in the form of notifying the state’s Attorney General, and major consumer reporting agencies, of the breach or suspected breach within 45 days of its discovery. As of current, 47 other states in the United states already have some form of protection like the one proposed.
A similar measure is being nationally proposed in Australia, where concerns about data breaches in an interconnected world are also a concern, and a preliminary version of the bill has already been passed pending approval.
- Wonga Data Breach: 250,000 UK and 25,000 Poland Clients Affected - April 12, 2017
- ABTA Data Breach – 43,000 Users Impacted - March 16, 2017
- 2014 Yahoo Data Breach Suspects Charged, Ties to Russia - March 16, 2017
