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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."
What if those doing the infiltrating are NSA agents?
ZuluPad, the wiki notepad on crack
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.
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.
>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.
....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.
All theory is gray
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
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.
That which does not kill me only postpones the inevitable.
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!
What if I do the same thing, and I do get different results?
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.
Web 2.0 == Giant Blogspam Circle Jerk
Congress passes laws all of the time that it has no constitutional authority to enact. The states should just flat out ignore these laws and go on their merry way. If the feds try anything, many states have more than enough law enforcement capabilities to overpower federal law enforcement and the loyalty of the guardsmen in the NG is going to be first and foremost with their families and communities.
The states need to start knocking the feds down a few notches on the totem poll through things like not taking mandates, arresting DEA agents on capital murder charges for killing people in no-knock raids and things like that.
Before you go, you should know a few things about the place:
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
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.