On July 25, 2019, New York Governor Andrew M. Cuomo signed the
Stop Hacks and Improve Electronic Data Security
(“SHIELD”) Act, which tightens New York’s data
breach law by imposing stronger obligations on businesses handling
private information and affords consumers who may have been
impacted by a data security incident additional protections. This
Act signifies how seriously states like New York are taking
privacy, data and cybersecurity and has far-reaching impact on
persons and businesses across the nation.
Under New York’s existing data breach notification law,
General Business Law § 899-aa, enacted in 2005, any person or
entity conducting business in New York, and which owns or
licenses computerized data which includes private information,
shall disclose a breach of the security system following discovery
or notification of the breach to any resident of New York state
whose private information was, or is reasonably believed to have
been, acquired by a person
