Following the release of a recent survey that revealed three-fourths of Europeans are concerned about data protection, European Commission vice president Viviane Reding announced she will seek to expand data breach notification laws.
According to a post on Reding’s EC web page, the majority of Europeans are worried about the ways companies handle their personal data. While many have accepted the notion that revealing personal information is a common occurrence, some are still not comfortable with current protection practices.
As a result, Reding said she will propose legislation that extends data breach notification requirements throughout the European Union.
Under the proposed rules, companies would be required to notify those affected by a data breach immediately. Additionally, Reding is seeking to clarify certain data protection rules, ensuring that consumers and companies know that consent must be given in order to use certain personal information.
“Most people are used to giving out personal data to shop online or use social networking sites. But they’re equally worried about how this data will be used, and don’t always feel in control,” Reding said in a press release. “That’s why when I modernize the data protection rules, I want to explicitly clarify that people shall have the right – and not only the ‘possibility’ – to withdraw their consent to data processing.”
A similar situation is developing in the United States. The Obama administration recently proposed a new piece of legislation that would consolidate the 47 separate data breach notification laws currently used by states and the District of Columbia under one umbrella.
According to the Obama administration, such a law would enable consumers to protect themselves better from the threat of identity theft and help ensure individuals’ privacy and civil liberties are not impeded.
Security News from SimplySecurity.com by Trend Micro
