Section 208 - [Effective 3/21/2025] Notification; person without valid authorization has acquired private information1. As used in this section, the following terms shall have the following meanings: (a) "Private information" shall mean either: (i) personal information consisting of any information in combination with any one or more of the following data elements, when either the data element or the combination of personal information plus the data element is not encrypted or encrypted with an encryption key that has also been accessed or acquired: (1) social security number;(2) driver's license number or non-driver identification card number; (3) account number, credit or debit card number, in combination with any required security code, access code, password or other information which would permit access to an individual's financial account;(4) account number, or credit or debit card number, if circumstances exist wherein such number could be used to access to an individual's financial account without additional identifying information, security code, access code, or password; or(5) biometric information, meaning data generated by electronic measurements of an individual's unique physical characteristics, such as fingerprint, voice print, or retina or iris image, or other unique physical representation or digital representation which are used to authenticate or ascertain the individual's identity; or(6) medical information; or(7) health insurance information; or For the purposes of this paragraph, "medical information" means any information regarding an individual's medical history, mental or physical condition, or medical treatment or diagnosis by a health care professional. (ii) a user name or e-mail address in combination with a password or security question and answer that would permit access to an online account. "Private information" does not include publicly available information that is lawfully made available to the general public from federal, state, or local government records.
For the purposes of this paragraph, "health insurance information" means an individual's health insurance policy number or subscriber identification number, any unique identifier used by a health insurer to identify the individual or any information in an individual's application and claims history, including, but not limited to, appeals history.
(b) "Breach of the security of the system" shall mean unauthorized acquisition or acquisition without valid authorization of computerized data which compromises the security, confidentiality, or integrity of personal information maintained by a state entity. Good faith acquisition of personal information by an employee or agent of a state entity for the purposes of the agency is not a breach of the security of the system, provided that the private information is not used or subject to unauthorized disclosure. In determining whether information has been acquired, or is reasonably believed to have been acquired, by an unauthorized person or a person without valid authorization, such state entity may consider the following factors, among others:
(1) indications that the information is in the physical possession and control of an unauthorized person, such as a lost or stolen computer or other device containing information; or(2) indications that the information has been downloaded or copied; or(3) indications that the information was used by an unauthorized person, such as fraudulent accounts opened or instances of identity theft reported.(c) "State entity" shall mean any state board, bureau, division, committee, commission, council, department, public authority, public benefit corporation, office or other governmental entity performing a governmental or proprietary function for the state of New York, except:(2) all cities, counties, municipalities, villages, towns, and other local agencies.(d) "Consumer reporting agency" shall mean any person which, for monetary fees, dues, or on a cooperative nonprofit basis, regularly engages in whole or in part in the practice of assembling or evaluating consumer credit information or other information on consumers for the purpose of furnishing consumer reports to third parties, and which uses any means or facility of interstate commerce for the purpose of preparing or furnishing consumer reports. A list of consumer reporting agencies shall be compiled by the state attorney general and furnished upon request to state entities required to make a notification under subdivision two of this section.2. Any state entity that owns or licenses computerized data that includes private information shall disclose any breach of the security of the system following discovery or notification of the breach in the security of the system to any resident of New York state whose private information was, or is reasonably believed to have been, accessed or acquired by a person without valid authorization. The disclosure shall be made in the most expedient time possible and without unreasonable delay, consistent with the legitimate needs of law enforcement, as provided in subdivision four of this section, or any measures necessary to determine the scope of the breach and restore the integrity of the data system. The state entity shall consult with the state office of information technology services to determine the scope of the breach and restoration measures. Within ninety days of the notice of the breach, the office of information technology services shall deliver a report on the scope of the breach and recommendations to restore and improve the security of the system to the state entity. (a) Notice to affected persons under this section is not required if the exposure of private information was an inadvertent disclosure by persons authorized to access private information, and the state entity reasonably determines such exposure will not likely result in misuse of such information, or financial or emotional harm to the affected persons. Such a determination must be documented in writing and maintained for at least five years. If the incident affected over five hundred residents of New York, the state entity shall provide the written determination to the state attorney general within ten days after the determination.(b) If notice of the breach of the security of the system is made to affected persons pursuant to the breach notification requirements under any of the following laws, nothing in this section shall require any additional notice to those affected persons, but notice still shall be provided to the state attorney general, the department of state and the office of information technology services pursuant to paragraph (a) of subdivision seven of this section and to consumer reporting agencies pursuant to paragraph (b) of subdivision seven of this section: (i) regulations promulgated pursuant to Title V of the federal Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (15 U.S.C. 6801 to 6809), as amended from time to time;(ii) regulations implementing the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 ( 45 C.F.R. parts 160 and 164), as amended from time to time, and the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act, as amended from time to time;(iii) part five hundred of title twenty-three of the official compilation of codes, rules and regulations of the state of New York, as amended from time to time; or(iv) any other data security rules and regulations of, and the statutes administered by, any official department, division, commission or agency of the federal or New York state government as such rules, regulations or statutes are interpreted by such department, division, commission or agency or by the federal or New York state courts.3. Any state entity that maintains computerized data that includes private information which such agency does not own shall notify the owner or licensee of the information of any breach of the security of the system immediately following discovery, if the private information was, or is reasonably believed to have been, accessed or acquired by a person without valid authorization.4. The notification required by this section may be delayed if a law enforcement agency determines that such notification impedes a criminal investigation. The notification required by this section shall be made after such law enforcement agency determines that such notification does not compromise such investigation.5. The notice required by this section shall be directly provided to the affected persons by one of the following methods: (b) electronic notice, provided that the person to whom notice is required has expressly consented to receiving said notice in electronic form and a log of each such notification is kept by the state entity who notifies affected persons in such form; provided further, however, that in no case shall any person or business require a person to consent to accepting said notice in said form as a condition of establishing any business relationship or engaging in any transaction;(c) telephone notification provided that a log of each such notification is kept by the state entity who notifies affected persons; or(d) Substitute notice, if a state entity demonstrates to the state attorney general that the cost of providing notice would exceed two hundred fifty thousand dollars, or that the affected class of subject persons to be notified exceeds five hundred thousand, or such agency does not have sufficient contact information. Substitute notice shall consist of all of the following:(1) e-mail notice when such state entity has an e-mail address for the subject persons;(2) conspicuous posting of the notice on such state entity's web site page, if such agency maintains one; and(3) notification to major statewide media.6. Regardless of the method by which notice is provided, such notice shall include contact information for the state entity making the notification, the telephone numbers and websites of the relevant state and federal agencies that provide information regarding security breach response and identity theft prevention and protection information and a description of the categories of information that were, or are reasonably believed to have been, accessed or acquired by a person without valid authorization, including specification of which of the elements of personal information and private information were, or are reasonably believed to have been, so accessed or acquired.7.(a) In the event that any New York residents are to be notified, the state entity shall notify the state attorney general, the department of state and the state office of information technology services as to the timing, content and distribution of the notices and approximate number of affected persons and provide a copy of the template of the notice sent to affected persons. Such notice shall be made without delaying notice to affected New York residents.(b) In the event that more than five thousand New York residents are to be notified at one time, the state entity shall also notify consumer reporting agencies as to the timing, content and distribution of the notices and approximate number of affected persons. Such notice shall be made without delaying notice to affected New York residents.8. The state office of information technology services shall develop, update and provide regular training to all state entities relating to best practices for the prevention of a breach of the security of the system.9. Any covered entity required to provide notification of a breach, including breach of information that is not "private information" as defined in paragraph (a) of subdivision one of this section, to the secretary of health and human services pursuant to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 or the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act, as amended from time to time, shall provide such notification to the state attorney general within five business days of notifying the secretary.10. Any entity listed in subparagraph two of paragraph (c) of subdivision one of this section shall adopt a notification policy no more than one hundred twenty days after the effective date of this section. Such entity may develop a notification policy which is consistent with this section or alternatively shall adopt a local law which is consistent with this section. N.Y. State Tech. Law § 208
Amended by New York Laws 2024, ch. 613,Sec. 6, eff. 3/21/2025.Amended by New York Laws 2019, ch. 117,Sec. 5, eff. 10/23/2019.Amended by New York Laws 2013, ch. 55,Sec. N-5, eff. 3/28/2013.This section is set out more than once due to postponed, multiple, or conflicting amendments.