Value of Security Breach Notification Laws
Ephemerallaw: This article from Computer World advances a position which I find truly bizarre: that security breach notification laws don’t help people. The article’s reasoning (and I use the term loosely) seems to be that notification laws only require action after a breach takes place, so they really don’t prevent identity theft. It would be better for consumers, according to the article, if the money companies now spend on complying with security breach notification laws were instead spent on security that might prevent identity theft. In any case, the article points out, more identity theft takes place due to telephone scams, lost wallets, or consumers who don’t properly protect their computers. Basically, the article minimizes the harm caused by security breaches, and tries to argue that the money spent notifying consumers of the breaches would be better spent elsewhere.
Frankly, it’s hard to know where to begin criticizing the article. My…