A total of 35 states have passed laws requiring notifications to persons affected by security breaches in databases held by businesses or government agencies, according to Privacy Journal. The federal government has not yet passed such protections.

Georgia, Indiana, and Maine require notification by “information brokers,” and Indiana requires state agencies to make such notifications when they discover that personal information in their possession has been disclosed without authorization.

The new publication also shows that 22 states now permit a consumer to place a “credit freeze” or “security freeze” on his or her credit file to make sure that it will not be provided to credit grantors without the individual becoming aware of it. The purpose of these new state laws is to reduce theft of identity, a crime in which a stranger co-opts an innocent person’s credit identity in order to buy products.

The laws are all listed and described in Privacy Journal’s 20-page 2008 Supplement to its COMPILATION OF STATE AND FEDERAL LAWS, along with other recently passed federal and state laws affecting privacy. The 2008 Supplement includes new laws on Social Security numbers, public notification of leaks of personal information, “credit freezes” on one’s credit report, prohibitions against securing a person’s telephone-calling records by pretext, and new state precautions on theft of identity, more than 200 laws in all.

Oregon was notable in 2007 in enacting the nation’s first law requiring all businesses and government entities that possess personal data on individuals to develop and implement an “information security program.”

Federal and provincial laws in Canada are included.

The original 2002 book lists more than 700 laws on credit, medical records, electronic surveillance, government files, criminal records, videotaping, employment, banking and several other categories.
The Supplement is available for $21 plus $4 shipping fee from Privacy Journal, P.O. Box 28577, Providence RI 02908. It may be ordered by credit card at orders@privacyjournal.net. The 2002 book with the new Supplement included costs $31 plus $4. Both are available in hard copy or email editions.

The 2002 book with the newest Supplement is also available from http://www.amazon.com/, or precisely at http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0930072170/privacyjournal.