Senate bill to protect consumer privacy includes health data provisions

Proposed legislation would not override stronger state laws already in place

A group of Democratic Senators have introduced a new bill to protect consumers’ most sensitive information–including their health data.

The Consumer Privacy Protection Act of 2015 was introduced by Senate Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and is being co-sponsored by Al Franken (Minn.), Elizabeth Warren (Mass.), Richard Blumenthal (Conn.), Ron Wyden (Ore.) and Edward J. Markey (Mass.). The legislation “calls for a comprehensive approach to data security by requiring companies to take preventative steps to defend against cyberattacks and prevent data breaches, and to quickly notify customers in the event a data breach occurs,” according to an announcement from Markey’s office.

Data security is about protecting Americans’ privacy, and consumers don’t want to just be notified of data breaches; they also want to be informed about what companies are doing with their data and how companies are preventing breaches,

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