The Data Accountability and Trust Act (DATA)

An anonymous reader writes "The U.S. House of Representatives will soon be considering the Data Accountability and Trust Act (DATA). If passed it would require all companies to inform customers of security breaches that affect their personal data. The bill requires consumers to be told if their privacy has been violated because of a breach. Under the proposals, if a breach does occur, a company must notify any customers concerned and the FTC, which can then demand an audit."

Comments

You could destroy many more lives.

[CyricZ]

While it is important to offer penalties that are felt by the corporations or businesses, you likewise don't want to punish them so much that they go out of business.

If a small company, perhaps 50 people, has a database of even just 50,000 credit card numbers stolen, the fines you suggest could easily ruin the company. That could lead to at least 50 people who are now unemployed, and potentially many more as the effect ripples through the economy.

Of course, that's just a small company. Take a large one, employing 40,000, and cause a similar failure. Now you've probably done far more damage to many more lives than was caused by the original data theft.