FEDERAL WAY, Wash. - The state house here passed data security legislation last year before getting hung up in the state Senate. Stacy Augustine, SVP for the Washington CU League, said WCUL sponsored the bill and will continue to fight to hold merchants accountable for the costs associated with data breaches.
Part of the problem in 2007 was a truncated, 60-day legislative session, which Augustine said will not be a factor in 2009. "We have a short legislative session, so any kind of setback will kill a bill, and it was a very technical bill," she said. "Several people testified against it and managed to create confusion in legislators' minds, and when you are dealing with a short, 60-day session and someone puts misinformation out there, it is difficult to correct."
The WCUL and legislators worked up four different versions of the bill last year, none of which were acceptable to retailers, Augustine said. "The retailers don't want more liability, and argued interchange income should be used for compensation. Washington already requires data breachers to notify consumers, but we want the data breachers to reimburse us for all of the costs associated with notifying consumers and helping consumers when there has been a data breach. Financial institutions should not have to shoulder these costs when the merchants were negligent with the information. The next session starts in January, and it is 105 days, so we will have more time to discuss these issues," she added.(c) 2008 The Credit Union Journal and SourceMedia, Inc. All Rights Reserved.http://www.cujournal.com/ http://www.sourcemedia.com/
