Illinois’ Attorney General Lisa Madigan issued a report and a press release on March 2, 2105 addressing proposed updates to the Personal Information Protection Act, the Illinois breach notification statute. In her press release, she states:
Madigan recently drafted legislation to strengthen the state’s Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA). Originally passed in 2005 at Attorney General Madigan’s direction, PIPA made Illinois among the first states in the country to require entities that suffer a data breach to notify Illinois residents if the breached information included residents’ drivers’ license numbers, social security numbers, or financial account information. Since the law’s enactment, the extent of sensitive information collected about consumers has expanded and the threat of data breaches has increased significantly, necessitating the need to update and strengthen the state’s law.
Madigan’s bill, which is sponsored by Sen. Daniel Biss and Rep. Ann Williams, will expand the type of information that requires a company to notify consumers of a breach, including medical information outside of federal privacy laws, biometric data, geolocation information, sensitive consumer marketing data, contact information when combined with identifying information, and login credentials for online accounts. The bill also requires entities holding sensitive information to take “reasonable” steps to protect the information and requires entities to notify the Attorney General’s office when breaches occur. Madigan said her office would create a website that lists every data breach that affects Illinois to increase awareness among residents.
One of the notable findings in the report is what the AG calls “confusion over breaches,” citing comments from consumer roundtable discussions. The report states that the most frequent complaint from participants was that while they were well aware of breaches from the media, they were not always aware if those breaches had affected them directly. The report outlines three principles the updated legislation should address:
1. Disclosure – the new law should require websites and apps that collect personal information to display privacy policies that explain what information is collected and who that information is shared with.
2. Protection – the updated law should require entities to establish reasonable security measures to safeguard sensitive personal information.
3. Notification – the legislation should expand the definition of personal information (medical, health insurance information, biometric data, geolocation information, sensitive marketing data, contact information when combined with additional identifying information like DOB, and log in credentials); require entities to notify the AGs office and create a database of breaches affecting Illinois; enable small businesses to notify local media rather than statewide media when breaches occur.
News reports suggest the legislation will go to the Illinois General Assembly shortly.
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