Rubio, Kennedy Introduce Bill To Protect Small Businesses From Security Breaches

Today, U.S. Senators Marco Rubio (R-FL) and John Kennedy (R-LA) introduced the Small Business Credit Protection Act, legislation that would require credit bureaus to inform small businesses, within 30 days, of a nonpublic personal data breach. The bill would also prohibit credit bureaus from charging small businesses for a credit report within 180 days following a breach. In response to the Equifax data breach, Congress amended the Fair Credit Reporting Act to enhance some federal credit protections for “consumers.” However, business credit is excluded from the statutory definition of “consumers” and thus, while small business’ nonpublic information was subject to the breach, the changes did not apply to those using business credit.