State Laws that Affect the Way your Data is Secured

Privacy and breach notification laws have been passed throughout much of the United States. Many of those laws started in California but other states are starting to attack the issue of data loss. The California law omitted healthcare data when it was first enacted. But since January 2008, residents' healthcare information is also covered under this law.

This law, passed in Massachusetts, is the first data protection law allowing for civil penalties to be levied for violation. In addition, it has specific requirements for how private data is to be protected. While not as extensive as the PCI DSS, it does have many more requirements than most States.

This law is the original breach notification law. California started the trend and most other states have followed with their own version. This site keeps track of the States that have passed notification laws.

Not sure whether you have private data? Here are some guidelines.