Financial Trade Associations Push for Strong Data Security Standards

Five financial trade groups on July 31 urged the House Energy and Commerce Committee to advance legislation along with the Financial Services Committee that would set strong data security standards and data breach notification requirements.

In a letter to Rep. Bob Latta (R-Ohio), chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Digital Commerce and Consumer Protection, the groups called for legislation that would include a flexible, scalable standard equivalent to the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act requirements for depository institutions; a GLBA-equivalent notification regime; consistent enforcement of the standards by the Federal Trade Commission and state attorneys general; and clear preemption of the often-conflicting patchwork of state breach laws.

“Any legislation enacted into law must ensure that all entities that handle consumers’ sensitive financial data have in place a robust -- yet flexible and scalable -- process to protect data, which must be coupled with effective oversight and enforcement procedures to ensure accountability and compliance,” the groups said. “This standard should apply to all entities that handle sensitive personal and financial data in order to provide meaningful and consistent protection for consumers nationwide.”

The letter was signed by the American Bankers Association, the Consumer Bankers Association, the Credit Union National Association, the Independent Community Bankers of America, and the National Association of Federally-Insured Credit Unions.

Read the letter.