Bronx, NY – Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz (D – Bronx), Chair of the Committee on Consumer Affairs and Protection, applauded Attorney General Eric Schneiderman for his efforts to improve state laws protecting consumers from data breaches. Attorney General Schneiderman announced yesterday that he is interested in amending state law to require that companies notify consumers if their email addresses and passwords have been made vulnerable by a cyberattack or data breach, among other changes. Under current law, companies are only required to notify consumers if their social security number, driver’s license, or credit card number has been disclosed.

Assemblyman Dinowitz has authored legislation to strengthen state protections for consumers’ personal information. The bill, A.10190 in the 2013-2014 legislative session, would establish mandatory baseline security measures for companies that use or store personal information. On November 14, 2014, the Assembly Committee on Consumer Affairs and Protection held a hearing on the impact of data breaches on consumers.

Assemblyman Dinowitz said, “Data breaches can threaten the identities and finances of nearly every consumer in New York State. As Chair of the Assembly Committee on Consumer Affairs and Protection, I have authored legislation and held hearings to investigate how best to protect and inform consumers about data breaches, which can lead to widespread identity theft. I applaud Attorney General Schneiderman for his commitment to strengthen state laws on data breaches, and I look forward to working with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to address this serious problem.”