Written by Privacy & Data Security Team
Following the recent announcement of two U.S. Senate committee hearings on data security breaches, the House Energy and Commerce Committee announced the first U.S. House of Representatives hearing to examine the issue. During the same week as the Senate hearings, the committee’s Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing and Trade (CMT), chaired by Rep. Lee Terry (R-NE), will hold a hearing entitled “Protecting Consumer Information: Can Data Breaches Be Prevented?” on Wednesday, February 5, 2014, at 9:30 a.m. EST in 2123 Rayburn House Office Building. According to the hearing notice released yesterday, witnesses will include executives from Target and Neiman Marcus, as well as government officials from the United States Secret Service and Department of Homeland Security. The Subcommittee will examine the preparations made by businesses to prevent data security breaches and the resources that exist to identify threats and improve the security of consumer information. The CMT Subcommittee notice also referenced the subcommittee’s recently issued data breach resource guide, which is a webpage that provides consumers with information they can use to help protect themselves against identity theft and take action when they learn of potential fraudulent charges on their accounts.
For more information on the hearing, including copies of the majority background memorandum, the complete witness list, and the witness testimony that will be posted by the CMT Subcommittee when they become available, as well as a link to a live webcast of the hearing, please click here.