Schwarzenegger vetoes another data protection bill

Posted by Caitlin on October 8th, 2008

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Last month, California state lawmakers approved the Consumer Data Protection Act, which would have prohibited most companies from retaining customers’ credit or debit card numbers, verification codes or personal identification numbers. Under this new law, companies that accept recurring payments would be allowed to keep this information, but would be required to follow specific guidelines, such as strengthening electronic firewalls, encrypting personal information and limiting access in order to protect this customer data. The law would also have forced retailers to give customers more details about security breaches.

Although the Consumer Data Protection act was strongly supported by the California State Assembly and Senate, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed the bill last week, just as he vetoed an earlier version of this legislation last year. Schwarzenegger stated that both bills attempted to “legislate in an area where the marketplace has already assigned responsibilities and liabilities that provide for the protection of consumers.” Bob Arnould, senior vice president of government affairs at the California Credit Union League, claimed that the veto “guarantees that millions of additional Californians will have their privacy invaded.”

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