Newsroom

Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John Rockefeller, D-W.Va., and Subcommittee Chairman McCaskill, D-Mo., in action lauded by NAFCU, yesterday wrote Home Depot seeking a briefing on the company's recent data security breach.

The Home Depot breach affects potentially any consumer who used a payment card at a Home Depot store anywhere in the U.S. or Canada since April. NAFCU President and CEO Dan Berger said the association appreciates the senators' leadership on data security concerns in general, but particularly the recent Home Depot breach.

"The latest attack on Home Depot underscores the urgent need to protect consumers and for Congress to establish national data security and breach notification standards for retailers," said Berger.

The Home Depot breach was confirmed in recent days, and reports indicate financial institutions are seeing debit PIN fraud related to it. Senate Commerce members Ed Markey, D-Mass., and Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., have requested a Federal Trade Commission investigation, and Home Depot is reportedly being sued by a consumer in Illinois.

Rockefeller and McCaskill noted their support of data security and breach notification legislation to protect consumers. "The recent data security incidents that have affected major corporations, including Home Depot, demonstrate the need for such federal legislation," they wrote.