Obama’s ’30-Day Shot Clock’ Would Hasten Disclosures Of Stolen Consumer Data
The unfortunate reality that we had to come to grips with in 2014 is that hackers aren't going anywhere, and if anything, they're becoming a growing nuisance. That isn't likely to change in 2015, though U.S. President Barack Obama wants to see some changes in the way security breaches are handled. One of the things he's pushing for is a requirement for companies to notify their customers within 30 days when data has been compromised.
It's one of the measures included in the Personal Data Notification and Protection Act, a national standard that would require companies to be more forthcoming when customers' personal information gets stolen as the result of a hacker attack.
This is a topic of growing concern as hackers continue to focus their attention on American businesses and retail chains. Banks, Target, Home Depot, Nvidia, Chick-fil-A, Staples, Sony Pictures Entertainment, and several other entities suffered security breaches of varying degrees in 2014. In some cases, companies are relatively quick to let their customers known if their credit card information or other sensitive data might have been stolen, though that's not always the case.
In addition to pushing for a 30-day disclosure window, President Obama is also expected to propose the Student Data Privacy Act. According to The New York Times, this act would prohibit technology firms from profiting from information collected in schools as teachers adopt tablets, online services, and Internet-connected services.
The announcements that come out today will kick off a week-long focus on privacy and cybersecurity by President Obama ahead of his State of the Union address next week. As it stands, White House officials expect bipartisan support for these measures.
It's one of the measures included in the Personal Data Notification and Protection Act, a national standard that would require companies to be more forthcoming when customers' personal information gets stolen as the result of a hacker attack.
This is a topic of growing concern as hackers continue to focus their attention on American businesses and retail chains. Banks, Target, Home Depot, Nvidia, Chick-fil-A, Staples, Sony Pictures Entertainment, and several other entities suffered security breaches of varying degrees in 2014. In some cases, companies are relatively quick to let their customers known if their credit card information or other sensitive data might have been stolen, though that's not always the case.
In addition to pushing for a 30-day disclosure window, President Obama is also expected to propose the Student Data Privacy Act. According to The New York Times, this act would prohibit technology firms from profiting from information collected in schools as teachers adopt tablets, online services, and Internet-connected services.
The announcements that come out today will kick off a week-long focus on privacy and cybersecurity by President Obama ahead of his State of the Union address next week. As it stands, White House officials expect bipartisan support for these measures.
