Will Security Standards on Data go National?
Setting up merchant account services so that your business can offer credit card processing services already requires a lot of hard work and research. A major aspect of setting up these services is becoming PCI compliant. Although not all companies maintain PCI compliance, they should, considering how much identity theft is a result of not being PCI complaint.
Currently, in order to protect data transmitted via credit card processing services, you must adhere to standards in your individual state. This is almost completely nation-wide with separate standards being necessary in 46 states. A republican senator from Pennsylvania, Pat Toomey aims to make this process easier by making it national.
On June 21, 2012, Toomey introduced a bill that would help to create “national standards for companies responsible for protecting and securing electronic data.” He furthered his point by saying: “Congress needs to provide businesses and consumers with certainty and establish a single reasonable standard for information security and breach notification practices… Our bill would eliminate the burden of complying with varying standards and laws, ensuring that all consumers and their personal information are afforded the same level of protection.”
It also seems that Toomey is not alone in his desire to mainstream data security standards. He also has the support of Senator Jim DeMint (South Carolina), Senator Roy Blunt (Missouri), Senator Olympia Snowe (Maine) and Senator Dean Heller (Nevada). Overall, if the bill passes, these senators will be in support of an act entitled Data Security and Breach Notification. The act will preempt “any law, rule, regulation, requirement, standard or other provision having the force and effect of law on any State or political subdivision of a State, relating to the protection or security of data in electronic form containing personal information or the notification of a breach of security.”
Will data security standards go national? Is this the best thing for our country as well as the credit card processing industry? Comment below and share your thoughts!
Leave a Reply