Dem preps Senate’s third data breach bill

The Senate this week could see yet another contender in the data breach legislative push.

Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) is getting ready to release his own version of a bill that would create a federal standard for how and when companies should notify their customers following a breach. The bill would also set minimum data security standards, according to Warner’s office.

Legislators have been looking for a solution to the current patchwork of state-level data breach notification laws, which businesses argue are difficult to navigate and create unnecessary expenses.

{mosads}A slate of massive data breaches at Target, Home Depot, JPMorgan and Anthem, among many others, have also exposed “weak, ineffective, or conspicuously lacking data security requirements in the private sector,” said a Warner spokesperson.

Warner’s bill will join at least two other offerings that are indistinguishable in many ways.

Sens. Tom Carper (D-Del.) and Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) introduced two weeks ago their own bill and Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) has been pushing another offering since January. The White House even issued its own legislative proposal on the topic, which was largely mirrored in Nelson’s bill.

All would set data breach notification rules and some degree of nationwide data security requirements.

Warner’s bill might separate itself because the retail industry has indicated it will strongly back the measure. The Carper-Blunt bill received more praise from the financial industry, which argued the bill would hold retailers to standards already required in the financial sector.

On Capitol Hill, lawmakers have occasionally split along party lines over data breach legislation. Democrats fear a weak federal data security standard could replace existing strong state laws. Republicans worry an overly aggressive federal law could cause intrusive regulatory action.

The party divide caused a House data breach bill to not reach the floor last week during the lower chamber’s “cyber week.”