National Data Breach Laws Move Through Senate: Via Threat Level.

A national data breach law got closer to passage this week.

The Senate Judiciary Committee approved two bills Thursday that address data security and breach notification, according to Government Information Security. The legislation was drafted in response to the plague of data thefts that have occurred over the last few years.

The Personal Data Privacy and Security Act would set standards for protecting sensitive personally identifying information and impose civil penalties for those caught violating them.

It would make it illegal for a company to conceal a breach if it resulted in unauthorized access to sensitive personal information. Entities that experience the breach of such data would have to notify the affected victims and consumer reporting agencies if the breach involves more than 5,000 individuals. They would have to notify the U.S. Secret Service if the intrusion involves more than 10,000 individuals.

The bill would also make theft of personal information subject to federal racketeering charges.

The second bill, the Data Breach Notification Act, would require entities engaged in interstate commerce to notify victims whose personal information is compromised in a breach — unless disclosure would harm national security or in some way hinder a law-enforcement investigation. Breached entities would have to notify the Secret Service if more than 10,000 individuals are affected by the breach, or if the breached database contains information on more than 1 million people, is a federal government database or is involved national security.

Forty-four states currently have breach-notification laws that require entities to notify residents of those states if any are affected by breaches of personally identifiable information. The laws, however, vary by state. Some require the breached entity to also inform a state agency, such as the attorney general’s office, if a breach occurs, which makes it easier to track breaches.

The federal bills have languished on Capitol Hill for four years. The bills now face a vote in the full Senate.

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