ARTICLE
30 May 2019

New Jersey Breach Notice Law Expands To Cover Online Account Breaches

SM
Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLP

Contributor

Businesses turn to Sheppard to deliver sophisticated counsel to help clients move ahead. With more than 1,200 lawyers located in 16 offices worldwide, our client-centered approach is grounded in nearly a century of building enduring relationships on trust and collaboration. Our broad and diversified practices serve global clients—from startups to Fortune 500 companies—at every stage of the business cycle, including high-stakes litigation, complex transactions, sophisticated financings and regulatory issues. With leading edge technologies and innovation behind our team, we pride ourselves on being a strategic partner to our clients.
New Jersey joins a growing list of states that include user name, email address or any other identifier in combination with any password or security question and answer would permit access to an online
United States Technology
Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLP are most popular:
  • within Cannabis & Hemp and Insolvency/Bankruptcy/Re-Structuring topic(s)

New Jersey joins a growing list of states that include user name, email address or any other identifier in combination with any password or security question and answer would permit access to an online account as personal information that, if breached, would give rise to a duty to notify. Other states that include these identifiers as "triggering" of their states' breach notice statutes include Alabama, Arizona, California, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Nebraska, Nevada, Puerto Rico, South Dakota and Wyoming. This legislation was recently signed by Governor Phil Murphy and will be effective September 1, 2019.

Should a company find that online account credentials have been breached, it can provide notice to the impacted individuals through an electronic notice or other format that directs the individual to update their password and security question or answer, as well as advising the individual to take other appropriate steps to protect their online accounts. If an email account has been breached, notice must be provided in a form of communication other than by email to the impacted email account.

Putting it Into Practice: Companies should keep in mind that beginning September 1, breaches to online account credentials (username or email address and password) will require notice in New Jersey.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.

[View Source]

Mondaq uses cookies on this website. By using our website you agree to our use of cookies as set out in our Privacy Policy.

Learn More