The Obama Administration and Congress again will consider the related issues of consumer privacy, data breach and cybersecurity in 2013. While it’s unlikely the efforts would create new obligations specific to the apartment industry, national standards could emerge that would affect all businesses, including apartment firms.
Most notably, Congress may soon consider legislation to create a national data breach standard that would eliminate the patchwork of state laws that currently exists. At present, 46 states and the District of Columbia have laws in place to govern how a business must protect consumers’ personal information, as well as the process for notification in the event of a data breach. This is important to apartment firms because they collect personal information, such as name, address, social security number and other unique identifiers, during the leasing and employment application processes. NMHC/NAA support reasonable efforts to safeguard consumers’ personal information but remain cautious of overly burdensome obligations on business owners.
In addition, Congress is expected to act on cybersecurity legislation. In the House, Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Mich.) and Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger (D-Md.) reintroduced the “Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act” (H.R. 624), which would improve voluntary information-sharing system between private-sector owners/operators of critical infrastructure and the government. The Senate is expected to introduce similar legislation.
This action follows the Administration’s recent issuance of a related executive order that aims to improve the cybersecurity of the nation’s critical infrastructure, which includes vital networks and systems such as nuclear power plants, water supply systems and the banking sector, through voluntary standards and a public-private collaboration for voluntary information sharing regarding cyber-threats.
Related Articles
- NMHC-NAA Statement for Senate Commerce Hearing on AI & Data Privacy
- Real Estate Coalition Letter to CISA on CIRCIA/Cyber Disclosure Rule
- NMHC-NAA Statement for House Committee on Energy and Commerce on the American Privacy Rights Act
- NMHC-NAA Statement for Senate Commerce Subcommittee Hearing on Data Privacy
- NMHC-NAA Statement for House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee Hearing on Data Privacy Rights