Governor of New York Signs New Data Security Law

After a short review period after being passed by the legislature, the Governor of New York signed the Stop Hacks and Improve Electronic Data Security Act (“SHIELD Act”) into law yesterday. The SHIELD Act broadens the scope of information covered by the notification law to now include biometric information, email addresses with their corresponding passwords or security questions and answers and credit card numbers. This law also requires businesses that hold information for any New York residents to abide by the notification requirements even if the company doesn’t conduct business in the state of New York. Additionally, the law expands the notification obligation to include situations where there’s been unauthorized access to data not just data that is believed to have been acquired without permission.