Congress Proposes Data Breach Disclosure Bill

segphault writes "A new data breach disclosure bill proposed by Senator Sensenbrenner (the same politician that sponsored the infamous Real ID Act) requires companies to inform federal law enforcement agencies if a database containing information on more than 10,000 citizens is infiltrated by hackers. The punishments for failing to disclose information about data breaches to federal law enforcement agents under this new bill include jail time and massive fines. Although this bill requires disclosure to the government, it does not require companies to inform the victims of data theft. Furthermore, it allows federal law enforcement agencies to prevent companies from voluntarily disclosing information about breaches to the public, even if the companies are required to do so by state laws. This law could potentially allow companies to circumvent and undermine state laws designed to protect consumers from identity theft."

Government is as Government does

[omeomi]

What if those doing the infiltrating are NSA agents?

Student hacks

[Oriumpor]

Student Information Systems can easily contain over 10,000 student records. So, potentially, the kid who changes his grades could be tried by the fed in the future.

Federal vs State

[dtfinch]

Bills in Congress usually win a few more votes if they add a clause giving state laws precedence, or so I've heard. That might make a difference with a bill like this one.

Keeping quiet isn't always bad

[jralls]

>This law could potentially allow companies to circumvent and undermine state laws designed to protect consumers
> from identity theft.

Yeah. It could also give the FBI time to track down the perps before general knowledge of the crime taints the witness pool. It's a pretty common practice at the local level for news organizations to keep quiet about evidence for the same reason.

Re:Authoritarianism

[arminw]

....the authorities wish to create and enforce law.....

whereby THEY can know when you've been screwed by a database break-in, but are may forbid the database holder from telling YOU that this happened, even if there are state laws that mandate the database holder tell their clients when such a data theft has occurred.

The last place left

[MarkusQ]

Australia is nice, but it's far from being the "last place left." To pick just one example a tad closer to home, three of the last presidents of Costa Rica are in prison at this very moment.

"Why?" you might ask. "Do they have particularly crooked politicians down there?"

No, not really. Their politicians aren't much different that politicians anywhere. The difference is, they have a rather odd custom regarding the laws. When their politicians break the law they investigate, arrest, try, and eventually convict the ones who do it. In other words, they treat their elected officials just like anybody else.

From what I can tell, as a side benefit, it seems to have a salubrious effect on the rest of the politicians.

--MarkusQ

Another law....

[mikesd81]

That has great potential to do something..........then they get it backwards.

Inform the gov't....why? It's the citizens put at risk when this happens. I want to know about it dammit. That's my information they lost.

Furthermore, it allows federal law enforcement agencies to prevent companies from voluntarily disclosing information about breaches to the public, even if the companies are required to do so by state laws. What? Backwards I tell you.

Don't mind my ranting demeanor. I've been on an ant-gov't rant since I listened to Michael Savage earlier.

Rep. Senselessbrenner

[greenguy]

Senator Sensenbrenner (the same politician that sponsored the infamous Real ID Act)

This is also the same guy whose immigration bill brought Latinos into the streets in unprecedented numbers to protest.

That's some record this guy is racking up!

I wonder if ...

[MrNougat]

Is the telecom companies' (except Qwest!) disclosure of telephone call data to the NSA considered a 'data breach?' Would that have to be disclosed as well? Or would the president simply sign a set aside for that law so that the NSA could ignore it?

Face it; it doesn't matter what laws are in place, the federal government can do whatever it wants. I'm actually to the point now where anytime I hear anyone associated with the government supporting A, or insisting that A is true, that I take it to mean that the government intends to do Not A or that Not A is true.

I don't have a college degree, but I'm going to encourage my children strongly to get their own. Not so that they can get better jobs in the US - so that they can take up legal residence in Canada.

Comment removed

[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

Some things to be aware of...

[MarkusQ]

Before you go, you should know a few things about the place:

• The food is generally wonderful, though not as spicy/salty as in the US
• They have a higher literacy rate than the US
• Honking your horn at random while you drive basically means "Hello, nice day, isn't it?"
• The beaches are what you'd expect in the tropics, but the capital is about 70-75 degrees year round.
• Petty crimes in some areas are more common than others (don't walk around downtown at midnight with your wallet hanging out of your pocket).
• Violent crimes over all are less common than in the states
• They have no army, but a large fraction of the citizens carry guns.
• The people are generally extremely nice, and very polite
• They have a better sense of humor than we do
• Even so, being a jerk is not recommended
• The national saying translates to "life is good"; unlike "have a nice day" they actually mean it.

Other than that, it's basically a great place for a vacation. I know some people who went down there on vacation in the mid 1980s, and still plan on going back home to the states someday.

--MarkusQ

Now wait a minute here . . .

[jhylkema]

This law could potentially allow companies to circumvent and undermine state laws designed to protect consumers from identity theft.

I thought Republicans believed in state's rights. Silly me.