Wisconsin Legislature Latest To Mull Bill Enacting Tighter Data Security Rules

MADISON, Wis. - Wisconsin’s CUs have thrown their support behind a bill introduced in the state legislature that would enact some of the Payment Card Industry data security rules as law and make parties responsible for data breaches pay the costs accrued by their customers, including credit unions.

The bill is similar to a measure drafted by CUNA Mutual Group and passed in Minnesota last year and making its way through the legislature in several states. It would enforce as law the PCI rules that require the destruction of all personal card information after a transaction. Currently, MasterCard and Visa enforce those rules. It would establish legal liability for costs to parties, such as TJX or BJ’s Wholesale Club, that are found to have been responsible for data breaches. Such costs could include notification to customers of a data breach, cancellation and reissuance of cards, and fraud losses caused by the breach.

Similar bills are pending in Congress but have been stalled, leaving the CU lobby to seek the measure on a state-by-state basis. (c) 2008 The Credit Union Journal and SourceMedia, Inc. All Rights Reserved. http://www.cujournal.com http://www.sourcemedia.com