The U.S. Senate Committees on Banking and the Judiciary will each host hearings during the week of February 3, 2014, to examine the impact on consumers from recently reported data security breaches and what measures may be taken to protect sensitive information of consumers, including customer financial information, from criminal acquisition and misuse. Consistent with the assigned jurisdiction and oversight authority of each committee, the Banking Committee will examine the protection of consumer financial data, whereas the Senate Judiciary Committee will focus on the prevention of data security breaches and combating cybercrime. While these hearings will be open to the public at the Senate office buildings in Washington, D.C., each hearing will also be webcast live to the public via the committees’ hearing web pages at the links provided below. Witness testimony will not be made publicly available until the hearings start, but will be posted and available at the same committee web pages.
The Senate Banking Committee’s Subcommittee on National Security, International Trade and Finance, chaired by Senator Mark Warner (D-VA), will hold a hearing entitled “Safeguarding Consumers’ Financial Data” on Monday, February 3, 2014, at 3:00 p.m. EST in SD-538 Dirksen Senate Office Building. Industry witnesses include: James Reuter, EVP of FirstBank, testifying on behalf of the American Bankers Association; Mallory Duncan, SVP and General Counsel of the National Retail Federation; and Troy Leach, CTO of PCI Security Standards Counsel. The hearing will commence with testimony from a government panel featuring: William Noonan, Deputy Special Agent in Charge of the Criminal Investigative Division of the U.S. Secret Service; and Jessica Rich, Director of the Federal Trade Commission’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. For more information on the hearing, including the complete witness list, copies of testimony (posted once the hearing begins) and a link to a live webcast of the hearing, please click here.
The Senate Judiciary Committee, chaired by Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT), will hold a hearing entitled “Privacy in the Digital Age: Preventing Data Breaches and Combating Cybercrime” on Tuesday, February 4, 2014, at 10:15 a.m. EST in SD-226 Dirksen Senate Office Building. Witnesses include John Mulligan, EVP and CFO of Target Corporation, as well as a panel of government officials featuring: Edith Ramirez, Chairwoman of the Federal Trade Commission, William Noonan, Deputy Special Agent in Charge of the Criminal Investigative Division of the U.S. Secret Service, and Mythili Raman, Acting Assistant Attorney General of the Criminal Division of the U.S. Department of Justice.