FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 1, 2009
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Senate Approves Senator Pileggi's Bill to Strengthen Reporting Requirement of Personal Data Breaches

State agencies and local governments would be required to notify the public of data breaches involving personal information within one week under legislation introduced by Senate Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi (R-9) and unanimously approved by the Senate today. 

Senator Pileggi said the legislation, Senate Bill 155, was drafted after reports of three separate thefts of state-owned computers containing personal information. Although those computers included at least 17,800 Social Security numbers and other personal information of approximately 400,000 state residents, the state agencies involved did not notify the public until two or three weeks after the incidents. 

"If the government fails to protect individuals’ sensitive personal information, we have a duty to at least notify the public promptly," said Senator Pileggi. "There is no reason to wait for two or three weeks. Potentially affected residents need to know what information was stolen so they can take steps to protect themselves from identity theft." 

Current law requires the public to be notified of such incidents "without unreasonable delay." Senate Bill 155 would put a specific one-week notification requirement in place for breaches involving state agencies and local governments. 

In two of the thefts involving state agencies, computers containing the personal information of about 375,000 individuals were stolen from Department of Public Welfare offices in Harrisburg and Philadelphia. In the third incident, a laptop computer issued to a Department of Aging employee was stolen from a private residence. That computer contained the personal information of more than 20,000 individuals. 

Senator Pileggi’s legislation, developed with Attorney General Tom Corbett’s office, would also require data breaches to be reported to the Attorney General within three business days. SB 155 would authorize the Attorney General to investigate every breach involving state agencies. 

More information about state issues can be found on Sen. Pileggi’s web site, www.senatorpileggi.com.

Contact:

Erik Arneson
(717) 787-4712