WASHINGTON – Yesterday, the Senate Commerce Subcommittee on Consumer Protection, Product Safety, Insurance, and Data Security held a hearing, titled “Getting it Right on Data Breach and Notification Legislation in the 114th Congress,” to discuss how to craft a clear and consistent national data breach notification standard. 

The hearing examined several issues, including the benefits of having a single federal data breach law and the degree to which a federal bill should preempt state laws. Committee members also focused on notification timelines and possible technology solutions. Senators asked the witnesses to explain how long a company should wait after a breach before notifying consumers and whether existing technology — such as chip-and-PIN card technology, tokenization and encryption — could both deter and lessen the impact of a breach.   

NACS submitted a statement for the hearing record (available here) providing the organization’s views on these issues. 

Committee members heard from a large panel of witnesses, which included representatives of the National Retail Federation, Symantec Corporation, Brown University, the American Bankers Association and the Information Technology Industry Council, as well as the Attorney General of Illinois.

This is the first Senate hearing of the 114th Congress on data breach — the House had its first hearing last week — and it is likely the first of many as data breach and data security continue to be priorities on Capitol Hill.