This chapter shall be known as the Town of Clinton "Computer
System Security Breach Notification Policy."
This Computer System Security Breach Notification Policy is
intended to establish procedures to follow in the event a person(s)
has acquired, without valid authorization, private information of
individuals from the records of the Town of Clinton and to alert said
individuals to any potential identify theft as quickly as possible
so that they may take appropriate steps to protect themselves from
and remedy any impacts of the potential identity theft or security
breach.
This chapter is enacted pursuant to the New York State Constitution,
New York Municipal Home Rule Law § 10, General Business
Law §§ 899-aa and 899-bb, and New York State Technology
Law § 208.
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the
meanings indicated:
BREACH OF SECURITY OF THE SYSTEM
Unauthorized acquisition or acquisition without valid authorization
of computerized data which compromises the security, confidentiality
or integrity of private information maintained by the Town. Good faith
access to or, acquisition of, private information by an employee or
agent of the Town for the purposes of the employee or agent 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 accessed, or is reasonably
believed to have been accessed, by an unauthorized person or a person
without valid authorization, the Town may consider, among other factors,
indications that the information was viewed, communicated with, used,
or altered by a person without valid authorization or by an unauthorized
person. 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, the Town may consider the
following factors, among others:
A.
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
B.
Indications that the information has been downloaded or copied;
or
C.
Indications that the information was used by an unauthorized
person, such as fraudulent accounts opened or instances of identity
theft reported.
CONSUMER REPORTING AGENCY
Any person or entity 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 may be obtained upon
request to the State Attorney General.
DEPARTMENT
Any board, division, committee, commission, council, department,
public authority, public benefit corporation, office or other governmental
entity performing a governmental or proprietary function for the Town.
PERSONAL INFORMATION
Any information concerning a natural person which, because
of name, number, personal mark, or other identifier, can be used to
identify that person.
PRIVATE INFORMATION
A.
Either:
(1)
Personal information in combination with any one or more of
the following data elements, when either the personal information
or the data element is not encrypted or encrypted with an encryption
key that has also been acquired:
(b)
Driver's license number or nondriver identification card
number;
(c)
Account number, credit or debit card number, in combination
with any required security code, access code, or password which would
permit access to an individual's financial account.
(d)
Account number, or credit or debit card number, if circumstances
exist wherein such number could be used to access an individual's
financial account without additional identifying information, security
code, access code, or password;
(e)
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
(2)
A username or email address in combination with a password or
security question and answer that would permit access to an online
account.
B.
"Private information" does not include publicly available information
that is lawfully made available to the general public from Town records.
TOWN
The Town of Clinton, County of Dutchess.
Any Town Department that owns or licenses computerized data that includes private information must disclose any breach of the security of the system to any individual whose private information was, or is reasonably believed to have been, acquired by a person without valid authorization. The disclosure must be made in the most expedient time possible and without unreasonable delay, consistent with the legitimate needs of law enforcement, as provided in §
15-7 below, or any measures necessary to determine the scope of the breach and restore the reasonable integrity of the data system. The Town shall consult with the New York State Chief Information Security Office (CISO) and New York State Office of Information Technology Services to determine the scope of the breach and restoration measures.
If the Town maintains computerized data that includes private
information which the Town does not own, the Town must 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, access or acquired by
a person without valid authorization.
Notification pursuant to this policy may be delayed if a law
enforcement agency determines that notification could impede a criminal
investigation. The notification must be made after the law enforcement
agency determines that notification would not compromise any criminal
investigation.
The required notice must be directly provided to the affected
individuals by one of the following methods:
B. Electronic notice, provided that the person to whom notice is required
to be provided has expressly consented to receiving notice in electronic
form and a log of each electronic notification is kept by the Town;
and provided further that no person or business may require a person
to consent to accepting notice in electronic form as a condition of
establishing any business relationship or engaging in any transaction;
C. Telephone notification, provided that a log of each telephone notification
is kept by the Town; or
D. Substitute notice, if the Town demonstrates to the State Attorney
General that the cost of providing notice would exceed $250,000 or
that the number of individuals to be notified exceeds 500,000, or
the Town does not have sufficient contact information. Substitute
notice must include all of the following:
(1) Email notice, when the Town has an email address for the subject
persons;
(2) Conspicuous posting of the notice on the Town's website page,
if the Town maintains one; and
(3) Notification to major statewide media.
Regardless of the method by which notice is provided pursuant to §
15-8 above, the notice must include contact information for the Town and a description of the categories of information that were, or are reasonably believed to have been, acquired by a person without valid authorization, including specification of which of the elements of personal information were, or are reasonably believed to have been, acquired.