House Subcommittee Approves Data Security Bill
On July 20, 2011, the House Commerce, Manufacturing and Trade subcommittee approved the Secure and Fortify Electronic (SAFE) Data Act (“SAFE Data Act” or “Act”) in a voice vote. The text of the bill is available here. The measure will now move to the full Energy and Commerce Committee for consideration. The bill would establish a national standard for when companies are required to notify consumers that their unencrypted personal information has been accessed or acquired and for notifying the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) and law enforcement of a security breach.
The bill applies to all persons and companies subject to the jurisdiction of the FTC and any tax-exempt organizations under Section 501(c) of the Internal Revenue Code; however, entities subject to HIPAA and Gramm-Leach Bliley will be exempt from the Act in certain circumstances. Under the current version, only data containing personal information related to commercial activity is protected. Personal information is defined as the consumer’s name, or address or phone number combined with one or more of the following pieces of information: social security number, government identification number (e.g., driver’s license number), or financial account identification number (if the codes or passwords needed to gain access to the financial account are included).
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