Data Security Legislation Likely to Remain an Important Issue in the 110th Congress

With the Democrats gaining control of both the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate in the mid-term elections earlier this month, legislation related to security breaches and personal information is likely to remain a high priority for the 110th Congress. While data security legislation is not part of the Democrats top legislative priority package, the issue will remain an important one. Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT), current ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, will become Chairman of the Committee when the new Congress is sworn in on January 3.

Senator Leahy, along with outgoing Committee Chairman Arlen Specter (R-PA) and Senator Russ Feingold (D-WI) introduced the most comprehensive privacy related legislation in the 109th congress, the Personal Data Privacy and Security Act of 2005. The bill requires companies to provide notice of security breaches, enhances criminal penalties, and calls for protections against security breaches, fraudulent access, and misuse of personally identifiable information. The version of the bill that passed out of the Judiciary Committee contains elements that may be burdensome and costly for KITK members.

There were nearly 20 other data security/privacy related measures that were introduced in the 109th Congress. The majority of these bills would not likely have an impact on Kids in the Know members due to the way most of them define "personal information" - as name plus social security number, drivers license number, or financial account number. In addition to Senators Leahy and Feingold, longtime privacy advocate Representative Cliff Stearns (R-FL) and Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY), who has longed championed a “privacy bill of rights,” may also introduce legislation in the next session.


Change in State Legislatures Could
Also Have an Impact

Democrats gained control of state legislatures in nine additional states during the recent elections, which may also have an impact on privacy legislation at the state level. Currently, Democrats control both houses of the legislatures in 24 states; Republicans in 16 and nine states are split.

In 2005, more than 15 states introduced one or more bills related to data privacy, most of which are similar to the 2003 California data protection bill. The vast majority of these bills would not affect Kids in the Know members due to their definition of personal information (an individual’s first name or first initial and last name in combination with one or more of the following elements: social security number, driver’s license number, or credit card number or account number). In addition, many of the state-based bills declare that “personal information” does not include information available to the general public.

The 2007 legislative year promises to be a busy one on the data security/privacy front. Kids in the Know will continue to monitor legislation both in Congress and in the state legislatures and keep you informed on all future actions.