Leahy Reintroduces Data Security Bill
CongressDaily's AM Edition reports (subscription required) that Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy hopes the third time will be a charm for his legislation intended to better protect citizens' personal information. The bill, which he reintroduced Wednesday and in two previous Congresses, would increase criminal penalties for identity theft involving electronic data and criminalize intentional or willful concealment of a security breach. Leahy said passage of the measure, which would pre-empt a patchwork of state data breach laws, is among his top legislative priorities.
Leahy's cybersecurity bill is one of many expected in the House and Senate. Senate Commerce Chairman John (Jay) Rockefeller and Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, were first with legislation in April, which could see committee action before August recess. Rockefeller issued a statement saying he and Snowe are working hard on the measure and hope to mark it up soon. "This is an enormously critical issue that cuts across every agency of government, every sector of our society and our economy, and of course multiple committees," he said. Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Chairman Joseph Lieberman is reportedly working on his own measure.
Across the Hill, the Judiciary, Commerce, Financial Services and other committees could also weigh in. House Oversight and Government Reform Information Policy Subcommittee Chairman William Lacy Clay, D-Mo., plans to introduce legislation and held a data security hearing last month. The congressional activity is emboldened by a White House cyberspace policy review that was released in May. The paper stressed the importance of building public-private partnerships to safeguard communications networks and called for the creation of a cybersecurity coordinator within the White House. That individual's appointment is imminent, several sources close to the issue said.
As for Leahy's bill, commercial data brokers are cautiously optimistic. Francine Friedman, an outside lobbyist for Acxiom, said the company is reviewing the measure. "We are welcoming of preemptive data security legislation which has been needed for a long time," said Friedman, an attorney at Hunton & Williams. "We look forward to working with Congress to make sure the legislation achieves its stated goals but is careful to consider potential unintended consequences."
CongressDaily also reports that the Senate Intelligence Committee has ordered the Obama administration to turn over legal justifications and other critical documents governing cybersecurity operations or risk losing funding for those efforts, according to members of the panel. Read more here (subscription required).
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