State and local government agencies will be required to
notify the public of data breaches involving personal information within one
week under legislation introduced by Senate Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi,
R-9, of Chester, and unanimously approved by the Senate.
Pileggi's legislation, Senate Bill 162, was drafted after
reports of three separate thefts of state-owned computers containing personal
information. Although those computers included at least 17,800 Social Security
numbers and other personal information of approximately 400,000 state
residents, the state agencies involved did not notify the public until two or
three weeks after the incidents.
"There's no good reason for a government agency to wait
for two or three weeks after a data breach to let the public know,"
Pileggi said. "We have an obligation to let potentially affected residents
know as soon as possible when personal information is stolen so they can take steps
to protect themselves from identity theft."
SB 162 will also require the attorney general to investigate
every breach involving state agencies; breaches involving local governments
would be investigated by the county district attorney.
"Requiring those investigations is important,"
Pileggi said. "If an agency suffers a data breach, it is critical to learn
exactly how it happened to help prevent other breaches in the future."
The legislation will also allow courts to require
individuals who are determined to be responsible for a data breach to pay the
cost of the investigation and the cost of repairing or restoring the system.
More information about state issues is available at Senator
Pileggi's web site, www.SenatorPileggi.com, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/SenatorPileggi,
or on Twitter at twitter.com/SenatorPileggi.
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