St. Paul, Minnesota — Today, state Representative Joe Atkins (DFL – Inver Grove Heights), chair of the House Commerce and Consumer Protection Committee announced that the committee will hold a hearing at 4 PM, Tuesday February 25 to discuss the Target data breach.
Rep. Atkins has invited Target officials to describe the incident and measures being taken to address it.
“This was a serious breach that involved the credit cards, debit cards, and the personal information of 110 million people,” said Rep. Atkins. “As Target is a respected, long-time Minnesota-based company, the committee would like to hear more details about this very troubling breach and what the company is doing to stop future attacks on consumer data.”
The committee will also hear potential consumer protection legislation authored by Representative Dan Schoen (DFL – St. Paul Park). The bill would require notification to those affected within 48 hours, mandate free credit reporting services, offer $100 gift cards, and repay any fees or charges as a consequence of the breach that are not otherwise covered by law.
“We need to do more to ensure that consumers are protected and informed when these breaches happen,” said Rep. Schoen. “Target was not entirely forthright with their problems and the extent of the data breach, causing great uncertainly among consumers. Often these breaches aren’t detected or revealed for months, putting consumers at greater risk.
“And while Target did the right thing in providing credit reporting services to those who requested it, we need to require companies that make these mistakes to help the people whose private data they exposed.
The bill will be introduced on February 25 and will not yet be formally before the committee for a vote on the date of the hearing. The bill will be held over to give all interested parties an opportunity to weigh in, and will then be voted on at later date.