Dom Nicastro writes:
A data breach bill filed August 5 requires entities that hold consumers’ sensitive information to create a robust data compliance protection plan and holds them to strict breach notification requirements.
U.S. Senators Mark Pryor (D-AR) and Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) filed the “Data Security and Breach Notification Act of 2010,” which would be regulated by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).
According to the language in the bill, healthcare entities and their business associates (BAs) would be in the clear so long as they complied with the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH)Act or any other federal laws that satisfy similar or stronger requirements.
It is unclear, however, if compliance with the FTC’s Red Flags Rule for identity theft protections would exempt entities from the requirements in the new bill.
E-mails to each Senator’s office were not immediately returned.
Read more on Health Leaders Media.
I doubt that the Senators could even answer Dom’s question because as I read the bill, the bill seems to leave it up to the FTC to determine whether any particular method or system qualifies as providing safe harbor, and they wouldn’t even make that determination until after the bill is passed.