Protecting consumers from identity theft is the new goal of a new bill in Sacramento that would require businesses to adopt better security practices to protect people's personal information.
Under the new legislation, if data breaches do occur, retailers, not banks, would be responsible for reimbursing any compromised consumers.
Last holiday season, Target was the victim of massive data breaches that compromised millions of customers’ credit and debit card numbers.
"Trust me, credit card companies and banks and credit unions and the retailers do not want to have their systems hacked into," Fremont Assemblymember Bob Wieckowski said. "This is not good publicity for them, so we’re trying to figure out some rational improvements in the law that will restore the confidence that consumers want.”
The bill would also require businesses to notify consumers within 15 days of detecting any possible data theft.
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