WASHINGTON, DC (December 27, 2013) -- National Association of Federal Credit Unions (NAFCU) President and CEO Dan Berger issued the following statement today regarding recent congressional calls for action concerning the Target data breach.
“NAFCU commends the members of Congress, including Sens. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., Robert Menendez, D-N.J., and Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., who have made calls to investigate and hold retailers responsible for protecting consumers’ information. As Congress calls for hearings and potential legislation, we remain active in pushing safeguards to protect credit unions and their 96 million members.”
NAFCU believes merchants should bear responsibility for data breaches originating on their end. In letters to the leaders of the House and Senate, Berger wrote Congress last week to urge passage of bills to require merchants to adopt minimum data security standards and be accountable for breaches. Berger also advanced the association’s calls for better data protection through a blog post in The Huffington Post this week.
Passage of data security requirements for merchants is a key element of NAFCU’s five-point plan for credit union regulatory relief. Berger noted in last week’s letters that credit unions and other financial institutions aren’t the problem in situations like these and that they have enough regulations and required standards they follow to protect consumers’ data.
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The National Association of Federal Credit Unions is the only national organization that focuses exclusively on federal issues affecting credit unions, representing its members before the federal government and the public.