Obama Wants Firms to Notify of Data Breach Within 30 Days

The Proposal Complemented a Series of Data Privacy Related Rules Suggested by the White House Today.

President Barack Obama wants companies to notify consumers within 30-days of a personal data breach. Despite a slew of pressing issues facing the administration and a potentially unsympathetic Republican-led congress, the White House today unveiled a handful of legislative proposals aimed at safeguarding consumer privacy, continuing along a path established by its privacy and big data report published in May.

The administration’s Personal Data Notification and Protection Act is being pitched in part as beneficial to companies handling consumer data, since it provides a set of rules for data breaches that applies on a national level.

“This proposal clarifies and strengthens the obligations companies have to notify customers when their personal information has been exposed, including establishing a 30-day notification requirement from the discovery of a breach, while providing companies with the certainty of a single, national standard,” noted a White House press release.

Industry has long supported a federal data-breach rule. U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder in February called for a national data-breach law, in part a response to the giant Target data breach. Since then, several firms holding consumer information have been vulnerable to hacks and data spills. The recent exposure of Sony data — allegedly perpetrated by North Korean government forces — has national defense implications, perhaps propelling the White House to push harder for updated privacy and security laws.  Read Further

Adapted from Adage

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