Blunt, Carper introduce data security legislation

U.S. Sens. Roy Blunt (R-MO) and Tom Carper (D-DE) this week introduced the Data Security Act of 2015 to better protect consumers by creating national standards that would help prevent and respond to data breaches.

“As the role of the Internet in Americans’ daily lives is constant and evolving, so is the job of protecting and securing private citizens’ personal information,” Blunt said. “I’m pleased to join Senator Carper again on this bipartisan effort to provide better protection for consumers and more clarity for businesses through consistent national standards for data security and breach notification.”

The legislation would replace the current patchwork of state laws with a set of well-defined national standards. It would require entities to better protect sensitive information, investigate security breaches and notify its consumers when there is a substantial risk of identity theft or account fraud.

“For nearly a decade I’ve worked to ensure that we have common-sense measures in place to safeguard the transactions we conduct every day in person and online,” Carper said. “Our bipartisan and comprehensive legislation would better serve consumers by ensuring that entities handling secure personal and financial information take the steps necessary to protect it, and respond swiftly and effectively in the unfortunate event of a breach.”