By Mr. CARPER (for himself and Mr. Bennett):
S. 3579. A bill to protect information relating to consumers, to require notice of security breaches, and for other purposes; to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.
Mr. CARPER. Mr. President, I rise today with my colleague Senator Bennett to introduce an important and bipartisan piece of legislation that will help protect American's from identity and financial theft.
As you may have heard in the news, in 2009 Heartland Payment Systems--a national company that processes payments for retailers and restaurants located in nearly all 50 states--was hacked, leaving possibly 100 million people at risk of identity fraud or financial theft. These types of scenarios happen more than we would like and have the potential to keep American's from getting a loan, a new bank account, or--in worst case scenarios--from even paying the monthly bills. This situation is simply unacceptable and this bill will help address these serious problems.
Our bill requires entities such as financial institutions, retailers, and Federal agencies to safeguard sensitive information before it is compromised, investigate possible security breaches, and to notify customers when there is a substantial risk of identity theft or account fraud.
For example, these new requirements would apply to retailers who take credit card information, data brokers who compile private information, and government agencies that possess nonpublic personal information.
My colleague and I modeled our legislation after the data security and breach-response regime established under the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act of 1999, and subsequent regulations. It also builds on existing law to better ensure federal and state regulators comply with the law and to make certain that data security procedures are uniformly applied.
Lastly, we need to replace the current patchwork of State and Federal regulations for identity theft with a national law, like this one, that provides uniform protections across the country. Our comprehensive approach will better serve consumers by making it easier for businesses and government agencies to take the steps necessary to adequately protect all Americans from identity theft and account fraud.
I look forward to working with my colleagues to get this important and necessary bill enacted before it is too late. I think everyone can agree that our identities and bank accounts are some of the most important aspects of our lives and that, if stolen, can at a minimum make life extremely difficult.
Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.
There being no objection, the text of the bill was ordered to be printed in the Record
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