The Security Blog

This is the gist of the bill.   Here you see two important items:

1. First, this bill applies to State agencies, unlike some other bills in other States.
2. Secondly, if the breach involves data on more than 500 California residents, you must now let the California Attorney General know.

It seems to imply that if the data was encrypted at the time of compromise, than this law does not apply.   This is a major issue that may invalidate the bill.   Let me explain:

When data is stored on a hard drive or a tape, it is stored often in a file format specific to the program storing it.   One can argue, I believe, that that is a form of encryption…

Here I see another "gotcha".   The need for expediency here is trumped by  "any measure necessary to determine the scope of the breach" and by "restore the reasonable integrity of the data system….".

Why is that a gotcha?  Because anyone can say: "We are still assessing the scope"  or "we have not restored integrity yet"

The security breach notification shall include, at a minimum, the following information:
(A) The name and contact information of the reporting agency subject to this section.
(B) A list of the types of personal information that were or are reasonably believed to have been the subject of a breach.
(C) If the information is possible to determine at the time the notice is provided, then any of the following:

(i) the date of the breach,(ii) the estimated date of the breach, or

(iii) the date range within which the breach occurred. The notification shall also include the date of the notice.

(D) Whether the notification was delayed as a result of a law enforcement investigation, if that information is possible to determine at the time the notice is provided.
(E) A general description of the breach incident, if that information is possible to determine at the time the notice is provided.
(F) The toll-free telephone numbers and addresses of the major credit reporting agencies if the breach exposed a social security number or a driver’s license or California identification card number.

This is a nice description of must be provided.  I am sure businesses appreciate it (this section, however, applies only to State agencies)

It is nice how, here, the requirement is made to supply the numbers of the three "devils".  

I am not sure what happened to (C) and (D) and why we went from caps to small case….

This section is a reference to the California Government Discourse laws, making, in my opinion, these notification letters subject to the California Sunshine laws.

I understand why they say what they said, however, and this is a big HOWEVER, here we see a definition of a security breach becoming something ridiculous.    A breach is only happening after the misuse of the information. 

I am sure that there is a better way to write this…

It may seems petty, but I read this requirement 2 different ways.  Bear with me:

• an individual’s first name or (first initial and last name), or
• an individual’s (first name or first initial) and last name

See?  Under the first option, a first name is enough to trigger this requirement.

Nice list, but….

(3) so Credit Card number (with name) is not covered here?

(h) (1) For purposes of this section, "personal information" does not include publicly available information that is lawfully made available to the general public from federal, state, or local government records.
(2) For purposes of this section, "medical information" means any information regarding an individual’s medical history, mental or physical condition, or medical treatment or diagnosis by a health care professional.
(3) For purposes of this section, "health insurance information" means an individual’s health insurance policy number or subscriber identification number, any unique identifier used by a health insurer to identify the individual, or any information in an individual’s application and claims history, including any appeals records.

(i) For purposes of this section, "notice" may be provided by one of the following methods:
(1) Written notice.
(2) Electronic notice, if the notice provided is consistent with the provisions regarding electronic records and signatures set forth
in Section 7001 of Title 15 of the United States Code.

 (3) Substitute notice, if the agency demonstrates that the cost of providing notice would exceed two hundred fifty thousand dollars ($250,000), or that the affected class of subject persons to be notified exceeds 500,000, or the agency does not have sufficient
contact information. Substitute notice shall consist of all of the following:
(A) E-mail notice when the agency has an e-mail address for the subject persons.
(B) Conspicuous posting of the notice on the agency’s Web site page, if the agency maintains one. (C) Notification to major statewide media and the Office of Information Security within the office of the State Chief Information Officer.

This is a virtual mirror to the Agency-related requirements above, except that it speaks of Persons and Companies.  So the same exaltations and critiques apply.

Notice the specific call out of owns or licenses.   This section does not apply to 3rd party processors or hosting companies.

(c) The notification required by this section may be delayed if a law enforcement agency determines that the notification will impede a criminal investigation. The notification required by this section shall be made after the law enforcement agency determines that it will not compromise the investigation.
(d) Any person or business that is required to issue a security breach notification pursuant to this section shall meet all of the following requirements:
(1) The security breach notification shall be written in plain language.
(2) The security breach notification shall include, at a minimum, the following information:
(A) The name and contact information of the reporting person or business subject to this section.
(B) A list of the types of personal information that were or are reasonably believed to have been the subject of a breach.
(C) If the information is possible to determine at the time the notice is provided, then any of the following: (i) the date of the breach, (ii) the estimated date of the breach, or (iii) the date range within which the breach occurred. The notification shall also include the date of the notice.
(D) Whether notification was delayed as a result of a law enforcement investigation, if that information is possible to determine at the time the notice is provided.
(E) A general description of the breach incident, if that
information is possible to determine at the time the notice is provided.
(F) The toll-free telephone numbers and addresses of the major credit reporting agencies if the breach exposed a social security number or a driver’s license California identification card number.
(3) At the discretion of the person or business, the security breach notification may also include any of the following:
(A) Information about what the person or business has done to protect individuals whose information has been breached.
(B) Advice on steps that the person whose information has been breached may take to protect himself or herself.
(e) Any person or business that is required to issue a security breach notification pursuant to this section to more than 500 California residents as a result of a single breach of the security system shall electronically submit a single sample copy of that security breach notification, excluding any personally identifiable information, to the Attorney General. A single sample copy of a security breach notification shall not be deemed to be within subdivision (f) of Section 6254 of the Government Code.
(f) For purposes of this section, "breach of the security of the system" means unauthorized acquisition of computerized data that compromises the security, confidentiality, or integrity of personal information maintained by the person or business. Good faith acquisition of personal information by an employee or agent of the person or business for the purposes of the person or business is not a breach of the security of the system, provided that the personal information is not used or subject to further unauthorized disclosure.

(g) For purposes of this section, "personal information" means an individual’s first name or first initial and last name in combination with any one or more of the following data elements, when either the name or the data elements are not encrypted: (1) Social security number. (2) Driver’s license number or California Identification Card number. (3) Account number, credit or debit card number, in combination with any required security code, access code, or password that would permit access to an individual’s financial account. (4) Medical information. (5) Health insurance information.

(h) (1) For purposes of this section, "personal information" does not include publicly available information that is lawfully made available to the general public from federal, state, or local government records. (2) For purposes of this section, "medical information" means any information regarding an individual’s medical history, mental or physical condition, or medical treatment or diagnosis by a health care professional. (3) For purposes of this section, "health insurance information" means an individual’s health insurance policy number or subscriber identification number, any unique identifier used by a health insurer to identify the individual, or any information in an individual’s application and claims history, including any appeals records. (i) For purposes of this section, "notice" may be provided by one of the following methods: (1) Written notice. (2) Electronic notice, if the notice provided is consistent with the provisions regarding electronic records and signatures set forth in Section 7001 of Title 15 of the United States Code. (3) Substitute notice, if the person or business demonstrates that the cost of providing notice would exceed two hundred fifty thousand dollars ($250,000), or that the affected class of subject persons to be notified exceeds 500,000, or the person or business does not have sufficient contact information. Substitute notice shall consist of all of the following: (A) E-mail notice when the person or business has an e-mail address for the subject persons. (B) Conspicuous posting of the notice on the Web site page of the person or business, if the person or business maintains one.