Attorney General Andy Beshear is asking the General Assembly to consider legislation that would provide better protections to Kentuckians affected by a data breach. The proposed changes to state law follow a major hacking at Equifax.
From May through July of this year, hackers gained access to the names of Equifax customers, their Social Security numbers, birth dates, addresses, driver’s license numbers, and credit card numbers.
Beshear said the theft of personal information on 40 percent of Kentuckians shows that the state’s data breach laws should be strengthened.
"In this digital era, laws that protect you in the case of a data breach like Equifax are absolutely necessary and I want to make sure if this happens again that you are better protected." Beshear said.
Beshear is proposing legislation that would give Kentuckians impacted by a data breach access to a free credit freeze and three no-cost credit reports each year from the major credit reporting agencies.
The attorney general also proposes five years of free credit monitoring and a requirement that all credit reports be encrypted, which would make it more difficult for hackers to steal personal data.
