Advocacy News – March 10, 2022
The Michigan Chamber worked to support Senate Bill 672, which passed out of the State Senate this week. The bill would amend the Identity Theft Protection Act and clarify that a business (or “covered entity”) is entitled to an affirmative defense to any legal action that alleges that the covered entity’s failure to implement reasonable information security controls resulted in a security breach, if meaningful preventative steps were taken. This includes implementing an industry-recognized cybersecurity program with certain safeguards for the protection of personal information and unauthorized access to information that is likely to result in material risk of identity theft.
This bill is an important and much-needed reform that will help protect particularly small- and medium- sized businesses that may lack the resources to support complex and costly IT infrastructure, while ensuring meaningful steps are taken by the business community to bolster cybersecurity protections.
For more information, please contact Mike Alaimo at MAlaimo@michamber.com.