US President proposes two data protection laws

One of the measures, the Personal Data Notification and Protection Act, would give hacked businesses 30 days to notify customers of a data breach. The customer-minded bills would enact new requirements for businesses and reduce the amount of effort in finding out if your information has been stolen in a security breach. They also would create a cohesive federal model for state legislators, who have been largely on their own when trying to compel companies to be more transparent.

The president also proposed the Student Data Privacy Act, which would prevent companies from profiting from information obtained in an educational setting. The inspiration for the act came from California’s student privacy law.

The White House also has convinced a number of financial institutions – including Bank of America, USAA, Allied Financial and JPMorgan Chase, which was recently hacked by foreign cyber thieves – to make it possible for customers to check their credit report, a reliable method of detecting identity theft early.

Meanwhile, 75 companies, Apple and Microsoft among them, have voluntarily agreed to protect privacy for students, teachers and parents as educational technology becomes more popular.