Sen. Warren to Introduce Bill Expanding Corporate Officer Criminal Liability

In line with my recent post concerning civil liability for data breaches, Sen. Elizabeth Warren announced today, in an op-ed in the Washington Post, that she plans to introduce a bill mandating criminal liability for executives in charge of corporations with more than $1 billion in annual sales that are found liable for violations affecting, among other things, the finances or personal data affecting 1% of the nation’s population or 1% of the population of any state. Criminal liability would be imposed even if the corporate office did not participate in the fraud.

It remains to be seen in the bill gets traction in Congress. Either way, it shows the importance of being proactive when it comes to protecting customers’ personal information.