Berger, on Fox Business, urges national data protection standards

January 20, 2014

Berger, on Fox Business, urges national data protection standards

NAFCU President and CEO Dan Berger told Gerri Willis on Fox Business Friday about the need to set national data security standards for merchants and retailers.

Jan. 21, 2014 – NAFCU President and CEO Dan Berger on Friday said during "The Willis Report" live on Fox Business that Congress must subject retailers and merchants to national standards for consumer data protection.

"We need to have a national standard for retailers to protect consumer data, just like credit unions and other financial institutions [have]," he said during a live interview Friday regarding the Target data breach and possible steps to address it. The report also aired live over satellite radio.

The Target breach is among the latest in a long line of merchant data breaches, and it is among the largest, with potentially some 110 million consumers affected.

Berger, on "The Willis Report" with anchor Gerri Willis, said credit unions are doing their part to protect members' data, but retailers must do theirs.

Last week, NAFCU-backed legislation to expand data breach prevention and notification requirements for U.S. businesses was introduced by Sens. Tom Carper, D-Del., and Roy Blunt, R-Mo. The "Data Security Act of 2014," S. 1927, would set requirements for businesses to better implement, maintain and enforce policies to protect sensitive information.

S. 1927 would set new data protection requirements for merchants and retailers similar to those already required of credit unions and other financial institutions under the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act. This is a key element of NAFCU's five-point plan for regulatory relief for credit unions.

NAFCU, the first financial trade association to call for hearings and data protection legislation to make retailers accountable following news of the Target breach, is working to ensure a GLB carve-out for credit unions as debate on data security legislation moves forward.

Credit unions can learn more about fraud trends and managing threats to members' data during NAFCU's Technology and Security Conference next month in Las Vegas.

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