Data Accountability and Trust Act (DATA) of 2011
Latest action. Referred to the subcommitteeA smaller panel inside a standing committee with jurisdiction over a slice of its subject matter. Most hearings and the first markup usually happen here.Read the full definition (opens a new tab) on Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade.
Data Accountability and Trust Act of 2011 - Requires the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to promulgate regulations requiring each person engaged in interstate commerce that owns or possesses electronic data containing personal information to establish security policies and procedures.
Authorizes the FTC to require a standard method or methods for destroying obsolete nonelectronic data.
Requires information brokers to submit their security policies to the FTC in conjunction with a security breach notification or on FTC request. Requires the FTC to conduct or require an audit of security practices when information brokers are required to provide notification of such a breach. Authorizes additional audits after a breach.
Requires information brokers to: (1) establish procedures to verify the accuracy of information that identifies individuals, (2) provide to individuals whose personal information it maintains a means to review it, (3) place notice on the Internet instructing individuals how to request access to such information, and (4) correct inaccurate information.
Directs the FTC to require information brokers to establish measures which facilitate the auditing or retracing of access to, or transmissions of, electronic data containing personal information.
Prohibits information brokers from obtaining or disclosing personal information by false pretenses (pretexting).
Prescribes procedures for notification to the FTC and affected individuals of information security breaches. Sets forth special notification requirements for breaches: (1) by contractors who maintain or process electronic data containing personal information, (2) involving telecommunications and computer services, and (3) of health information.
Terminates this Act effective September 30, 2016.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in House" stage on May 11, 2011. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
4 steps remain before this bill could become law.
The record's latest action, on May 13, 2011: Referred to the Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the House
- Passage by the Senate
- The President's signature. If the President vetoes it, two-thirds of both chambers must vote to override.
How likely is it to become law?
Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.
In the 112th Congress (2011-12), 283 of the 10,618 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 2.7 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one is not there yet: 4 steps are still outstanding, listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
CLIFF STEARNS (R-FL) introduced it on May 11, 2011, and 1 member has since signed on as a cosponsor.
They are 1 Democrat.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on May 11, 2011, 5601 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 5599 days ago, on May 13, 2011.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 112th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2013 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- HouseIn committee, no floor vote yet
- SenateAwaits House passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers