U.S. Congress Ready To Enact Data Security And Breach Notification Rules After Recent Consumer Data Breaches

In December 2013, a U.S. national retail store announced that credit and debit card data for more than 40 million consumers may have been compromised. On January 10, it further disclosed that cyber criminals had accessed a wide range of personal information belonging to 70 million people through point-of-sale terminals—equipment that annually facilitates more than $3 trillion in U.S. customer transactions throughout various industries.¹ Another major retailer has since made similar disclosures. These are the latest known victims of cyber attacks that have targeted payment systems and consumer data collections and have exposed millions of Americans to the threat of identity theft.

After a series of hearings this past week, Congress appears ready to enact a national data protection and breach notification law.