BILL ADDRESSES DATA BREACHES AND THE HARM THEY DO TO CONSUMERS

Washington, Jun 4, 2009 - The Commerce, Trade & Consumer Protection Subcommittee of the House Energy & Commerce Committee has approved H.R. 2221, the Data Accountability and Trust Act (DATA). This measure requires companies that hold data with personal information to develop reasonable security measures for that data and notification protocols in case of a breach. Prior to the bill’s consideration, the Subcommittee Chairman, Bobby Rush (D-IL), recognized Stearns for offering the bill in the 109th Congress, when it was approved unanimously in the Energy & Commerce Committee. Stearns is the leading Republican supporting this bill.

Stated Stearns, “Data Security is not a new issue. As Chairman of this subcommittee in 2005, I held two hearings on identity theft and security breaches involving personal information. These hearings led me to introduce DATA, and the bill we are considering today, H.R. 2221, is identical to that bill. This bill also requires an audit of a data broker’s security practices following a breach of security; directs the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to create rules requiring persons in interstate commerce that own or possess data to establish and implement security policies and procedures that protect such data from unauthorized use; requires data brokers to establish reasonable procedures to verify the accuracy of their data and allow consumer access to such information; and it directs the FTC to post data breaches on its website.”