CUs Eyeing Data Security & Remote Notary Standards Discussions in D.C.

Representatives from the U.S. House Consumer Protection and Commerce Subcommittee met Thursday to take up two important bills revolving around data security and remote notarization standards.

Since the pandemic began, the credit union industry has thrown its support behind the creation of federal standards when it comes to the ability to conduct notary sessions remotely. Many states, 36 in all, have enacted different versions of remote online notarization laws for conducting electronic and video notary sessions.

House Subcommittee members discussed H.R. 3962, which would authorize the use of remote online notarization and create national standards and protections.

In a letter to the Subcommittee, CUNA President/CEO Jim Nussle wrote, “The COVID-19 pandemic complicated person-to-person contact and made it difficult, if not impossible in some cases, to secure in-person notary services. Some states have remote notarization laws in effect; other states’ governors issued temporary executive orders permitting remote notarization. However, given the fact that the pandemic has affected every state and county in the country and that many of the notary requirements emanate from Federal law, CUNA strongly believes it would be in the interest of public policy to have a federal law permitting remote online notarization.”

The Subcommittee will also begin its markup of the American Data Privacy and Protection Act, which is designed to provide data privacy rights and create oversight mechanisms regarding data privacy and security.

In a joint statement from the Subcommittee, Reps. Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-N.J.), Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.), Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) and Gus Bilirakis (R-Fla.) said, “This week, we will take another major step in putting people back in control of their data and strengthening our nation’s privacy and data security protections by marking up the bipartisan American Data Privacy and Protection Act. We continue to welcome and encourage input as we begin this next step in the regular order process. We look forward to working with Committee members on both sides of the aisle to advance these important bills.”

In CUNA’s letter to the Subcommittee, Nussle wrote, “Credit unions strongly support the enactment of a national data security and data privacy law that includes robust security standards that apply to all who collect or hold personal data and is preemptive of state laws. We firmly believe that there can be no data privacy until there is strong data security. With that in mind, credit unions strongly support the approach of the bicameral, bipartisan proposal that would cover all entities that collect consumer information and hold those who jeopardize that data accountable through regulatory enforcement.”

Nussle’s letter also highlighted five areas the bill should address. Those items included:

• Keeping the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act standard intact;
• Addressing both data security and privacy through a comprehensive framework;
• Including of all entities under Federal Trade Commission jurisdiction in the standard;
• Establishing a national standard to avoid the current patchwork of state laws; and
• Creating enforcement measures to address the harms that result from privacy and security violations.