On February 28th CUNA reached out to 535 Congressional offices to keep the issue of the need for data privacy and security legislation at the forefront, and then engaged the Homeland Security subcommittee prior to their hearing on March 7th on examining private sector data breaches. These two efforts were on the heels of sharing a letter of support of the issue to both the House and Senate Commerce Committees last week in advance of their data privacy hearings. What is being asked of Congress is to require all entities handling data to meet strict data security requirements, create a national standard that pre-empts the current patchwork of regulations, and protects American interests from cyberthreats that could be linked to foreign entities seeking to disrupt U.S. interests. These standards are being pursued for the industry to help make a positive impact on the number of data breaches, protect consumer data, and lessen the financial burden felt at credit unions.
On the data breach front there was some positive news as of late with the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania granting preliminary approval of a proposed settlement on February 26th in the First Choice Federal Credit Union v. The Wendy’s Company, a data breach lawsuit brought by CUNA, Leagues and credit unions affected by the data breach. The lawsuit stems from a 2016 data breach at select Wendy’s franchise locations and a proposed settlement was submitted to the court February 13. Under the settlement, financial institutions have until September 30, 2019 to file claims, and will be paid based on the total number of alerted on cards related to this breach.
