Senator Leahy Proposes Consumer Privacy Legislation
Senator Leahy has introduced the Personal Data Privacy and Security Act of 2014. The Act would strengthen privacy and data security by establishing a national standard for data breach notification, and requiring companies to create a data privacy and security program to protect and secure sensitive data. The bill follows a massive data breach at Target that compromised the personal data of more than 40 million consumers. Senator Leahy stated that the bill "aims to better protect Americans from the growing threats of data breaches and identity theft" and said there would be a hearing in the Judiciary Committee later this year. In 2012 President Obama set out a framework for consumer privacy protection, the Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights. For more information, see EPIC: Privacy Legislation and EPIC: Identity Theft.