A top priority for credit unions each year is the standardization of data breach notification at the federal level. Currently, all fifty states have their own standards, making it nearly impossible for financial institutions to comply with these laws for all of their members. Every time credit union advocates head to Capitol Hill, a data breach has been on the top of their minds. And while every member of Congress agrees something needs to be done, to date, nothing has been.
That could be changing as legislation is set to be introduced in the United States Senate that would establish a strong and uniform national data security and breach notification standard. The bill, the “Data Security and Breach Notification Act of 2020” will exempt financial institutions from complying with this standard as long as they continue to comply with the Gramm Leach Bliley Act, thus not adding an extra layer of the regulatory burden on credit unions. The League will be working with our Senators asking them to cosponsor this important piece of legislation.
While the prospects of this legislation passing and heading to the President’s desk in 2020 are murky, this is a great starting point for legislation to be introduced early in the 117th Congress, something the League will be pushing for passage.