Data Security Bill Advances in Texas

AUSTIN, Texas – A credit union-backed data security standard advance last week when the House unanimously approved the measure and sent it on to the Senate. The bill would enact as law the credit card industry’s Payment Card Industry security standard, which requires, among other things, that merchants destroy all identifying consumer information after completing a card transaction. The standard is monitored and enforced by MasterCard and Visa but both card companies conceded that a majority of merchants continue to ignore the standards. The Texas bill also makes merchants not in compliance with the PCI standards liable for costs associated with plugging a data breach, like those accrued for blocking and reissuing cards. The credit union, which heavily support the Texas bill, also helped get a similar bill passed by the Minnesota House last week.