2SHB 1149 -
By Representative Williams
ADOPTED 02/14/2010
Strike everything after the enacting clause and insert the following:
"NEW SECTION. Sec. 1 The legislature recognizes that data
breaches of credit and debit card information contribute to identity
theft and fraud and can be costly to consumers. The legislature also
recognizes that when a breach occurs, remedial measures such as
reissuance of credit or debit cards affected by the breach can help to
reduce the incidence of identity theft and associated costs to
consumers. Accordingly, the legislature intends to encourage financial
institutions to reissue credit and debit cards to consumers when
appropriate, and to permit financial institutions to recoup data breach
costs associated with the reissuance from large businesses and card
processors who are negligent in maintaining or transmitting card data.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 2 A new section is added to chapter 19.255 RCW
to read as follows:
(1) For purposes of this section:
(a) "Access device" has the same meaning as in RCW 9A.56.010.
(b) "Account information" means: (i) The full, unencrypted
magnetic stripe of an access device; (ii) the full, unencrypted account
information contained on an identification device as defined under RCW
19.300.010; or (iii) the unencrypted primary account number on an
access device or identification device, plus any of the following if
not encrypted: Cardholder name, expiration date, or service code.
(c) "Breach" has the same meaning as "breach of the security of the
system" in RCW 19.255.010.
(d) "Business" means an individual, partnership, corporation,
association, organization, government entity, or any other legal or
commercial entity that processes more than six million access device
transactions annually, and who offers or sells goods or services to
persons who are residents of Washington.
(e) "Encrypted" means enciphered or encoded using standards
reasonable for the breached business or processor taking into account
the business or processor's size and the number of transactions
processed annually.
(f) "Financial institution" has the same meaning as in RCW
30.22.040.
(g) "Processor" means an individual, partnership, corporation,
association, organization, government entity, or any other legal or
commercial entity, other than a business as defined under this section,
that directly processes or transmits account information for or on
behalf of another person as part of a payment processing service.
(h) "Service code" means the three or four digit number in the
magnetic stripe or on an access device that is used to specify
acceptance requirements or to validate the card.
(i) "Vendor" means an individual, partnership, corporation,
association, organization, government entity, or any other legal or
commercial entity that manufactures and sells software or equipment
that is designed to process, transmit, or store account information.
(2) Processors, businesses, and vendors are not liable under this
section if (a) the account information was encrypted during storage and
transmittal at the time of the breach, or (b) the processor, business,
or vendor was certified compliant with the payment card industry data
security standards adopted by the payment card industry security
standards council, and in force at the time of the breach. A
processor, business, or vendor will be considered compliant with
payment card industry data security standards, if its compliance was
validated on all system components where cardholder data is stored,
processed, or transmitted at the time of its last annual security
assessment, and if this assessment took place no more than one year
prior to the time of the breach.
(3)(a) If a processor or business fails to take reasonable care to
guard against unauthorized access to account information that is in the
possession or under the control of the business or processor, and the
failure is found to be the proximate cause of a breach, the processor
or business is liable to a financial institution for reimbursement of
reasonable actual costs related to the reissuance of access devices
that are incurred by the financial institution to mitigate potential
current or future damages to its access device account holders that
reside in the state of Washington as a consequence of the breach, even
if the financial institution has not suffered a physical injury in
connection with the breach. In any legal action brought pursuant to
this subsection, the prevailing party is entitled to recover its
reasonable attorneys' fees and costs incurred in connection with the
legal action.
(b) A vendor, instead of a processor or business, is liable to a
financial institution for the damages described in (a) of this
subsection to the extent that the damages were proximately caused by
the vendor's negligence and if the claim is not limited or foreclosed
by another provision of law or by a contract to which the financial
institution is a party.
(4) Nothing in this section may be construed as preventing or
foreclosing any entity responsible for handling account information on
behalf of a business or processor from being made a party to an action
under this section.
(5) Nothing in this section may be construed as preventing or
foreclosing a processor, business, or vendor from asserting any defense
otherwise available to it in an action including, but not limited to,
defenses of contract, or of contributory or comparative negligence.
(6) In cases to which this section applies, the trier of fact shall
determine the percentage of the total fault which is attributable to
every entity which was the proximate cause of the claimant's damages.
(7) The remedies under this section are cumulative and do not
restrict any other right or remedy otherwise available under law,
however a trier of fact may reduce damages awarded to a financial
institution by any amount the financial institution recovers from a
credit card company in connection with the breach, for costs associated
with access card reissuance.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 3 This act takes effect July 1, 2010.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 4 This act applies prospectively only. This
act applies to any breach occurring on or after the effective date of
this section."
Correct the title.
EFFECT: The definition of "merchant" is modified by changing the defined word from "merchant" to "business." Definitions of "encrypted," "financial institution," and "vendor" are added. A provision that stated that the business, processor, or vendor is not liable if they comply with any applicable information security standard is modified. The protection from liability now occurs if the business, processor, or vendor has complied with standards adopted by the Payment Card Industry Security Council. Compliance is established if the business, processor, or vendor is completely validated on all components of security at an annual security assessment that occurred within twelve months of a breach of security. A provision that limited damages to all reasonable costs incurred to mitigate any possible damages to account holders is removed. A provision is added that limits damages to only reasonable costs related to the issuance of new access devices to persons who reside in the state. A provision is added that holds the vendor only liable to a financial institution if the claim is not foreclosed by another law or by a contract of the financial institution. A vendor is only liable to the degree that the damages are proximately caused and liability is allowed under law and under contract of the financial institution. A trier of fact may reduce any award by any amount recovered already recovered by a financial institution from a credit card company for the breach. Language and clarifying changes are also made.