Members of a key committee in the House have announced their intention to introduce data security legislation in the near future.  In a statement released Wednesday, Rep. Mary Bono Mack, who chairs the House Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing and Trade, cited the recent Sony Playstation breach in calling for congressional legislation.  The subcommittee chaired by Rep. Bono Back will hold a hearing — entitled “The Threat of Data Theft to American Consumers” — on May 4, 2011 on data security issues.

Rep. Bobby Rush, also a member of the subcommittee and who served as chairman during the last Congress, likewise plans to re-introduce a data security bill, which passed in the House in the last session of Congress.  Data security legislation, in fact, has been proposed in the last several Congresses, but last year was the first time it passed either chamber.  Whether Rep. Bono Mack and Rep. Rush will work together on legislation is not yet clear, but these latest development indicate, at least, that Rep. Bono Mack is inclined to make privacy and data security a part of her agenda as Subcommittee Chair (a role she assumed in January).  Rep. Bono Mack has been active on FTC issues in the past, but she was not a key driver on privacy legislation during the 111th Congress.

As our colleague, Gerry Waldron, wrote in a blog post several months ago, if Subcommittee Chair Bono Mack wants to move forward a privacy agenda, she will need to educate new members through hearings to get them comfortable with the substance and hear from stakeholders. The May hearing will be an opportunity to do just that on data security and breach notification issues.

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Photo of Libbie Canter Libbie Canter

Libbie Canter represents a wide variety of multinational companies on privacy, cyber security, and technology transaction issues, including helping clients with their most complex privacy challenges and the development of governance frameworks and processes to comply with global privacy laws. She routinely supports…

Libbie Canter represents a wide variety of multinational companies on privacy, cyber security, and technology transaction issues, including helping clients with their most complex privacy challenges and the development of governance frameworks and processes to comply with global privacy laws. She routinely supports clients on their efforts to launch new products and services involving emerging technologies, and she has assisted dozens of clients with their efforts to prepare for and comply with federal and state privacy laws, including the California Consumer Privacy Act and California Privacy Rights Act.

Libbie represents clients across industries, but she also has deep expertise in advising clients in highly-regulated sectors, including financial services and digital health companies. She counsels these companies — and their technology and advertising partners — on how to address legacy regulatory issues and the cutting edge issues that have emerged with industry innovations and data collaborations.

As part of her practice, she also regularly represents clients in strategic transactions involving personal data and cybersecurity risk. She advises companies from all sectors on compliance with laws governing the handling of health-related data. Libbie is recognized as an Up and Coming lawyer in Chambers USA, Privacy & Data Security: Healthcare. Chambers USA notes, Libbie is “incredibly sharp and really thorough. She can do the nitty-gritty, in-the-weeds legal work incredibly well but she also can think of a bigger-picture business context and help to think through practical solutions.”