Schwarzenegger denies consumers knowledge of their own stolen data

I might have missed this bit of news if it hadn't been for a blog over at Sophos, the anti-virus provider. Apparently last week, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed senate bill SB-20. The bill would have required businesses to inform consumers of what data about them was lost during a breach, inform the California Attorney General if more than 500 records were lost and provide advice to consumers on how to protect themselves from their data being exploited. It was passed by both the California Legislature and Senate without opposition.

More from Chester Wiesniewski's blog:

The authors of the bill had worked closely with the insurance industry and other related parties to strike the right balance between protecting consumers and not placing an undue burden on businesses. Arnold disagrees, and claims to be looking out for businesses, yet those businesses had already dropped opposition to the legislation.

The Governator and I clearly don't see eye to eye on this one. I had my debit card "skimmed" a year ago from a local Automatic Teller Machine (ATM) in Vancouver. My bank dutifully notified me and asked me to come in for a replacement card. While speaking with the clerk at my local branch to retrieve my new card, I asked "Which ATM was it where my card was compromised, or was it a shop?" The response was "We don't disclose those details to customers."

Why not? I certainly do not want to make the mistake of returning to a merchant who may have been in on the scam. Consumers who are made aware of data loss have a right to know what personal information may have been obtained about them so they can protect themselves in the future.

I agree with Mr. Wiesniewski, this should have been something the Governor signed, and I also agree it's surprising that Governor vetoed this. With the widespread identity theft in the world today, you'd think this one would have been a no-brainer.