Senate Commerce Democrats Introduce Data Breach Bill

Entities that knowingly conceal data breach information would face cash penalties​ and up to five years in prison, in a bill introduced Thursday by Senate Commerce Committee ranking member Bill Nelson, D-Fla., Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., and Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis. The push for legislation was prompted by Uber's disclosure of a data breach affecting 57 million accounts that was concealed for a year (see 1711270047), said the members' statement. The proposal would require companies to notify consumers of data breaches within 30 days and direct the FTC to develop security standards to help businesses protect consumers' personal and financial data and provide incentives to businesses that adopt new technologies that make consumer data unusable or unreadable if stolen during a breach. "We need a strong federal law in place to hold companies truly accountable for failing to safeguard data or inform consumers when that info has been stolen,” said Nelson, who introduced a similar bill with Blumenthal last year.