By: David D. Cherner, ACA International Corporate Counsel

As an industry that relies on sensitive personal data from billions of consumers, it is imperative that debt collectors maintain vigilance in protecting consumer privacy and data security.

Cyber-attacks at Sony, Epsilon, FOX, PBS, Citigroup and the International Monetary Fund are recent reminders of how susceptible data security can be. From e-mail, private medical information, financial data to Social Security numbers, the impacts of identity theft can be economically devastating to consumers and the reputation of the organization found to be at fault – along with their creditor clients.

We’ve all seen the unfortunate headlines about companies that have experienced large scale data security breaches or have lost sensitive consumer information. In the new age of e-commerce, countless cases of hacking, cyber-attacks and mishandling of data have led to public panic, adverse media attention and new legislative and regulatory action.

Although regulated by a myriad of federal and state laws and regulations to protect the privacy of consumers’ personal information, including the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, Fair Credit Reporting Act, Gramm-Leach-Bliley and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, continued breaches of data privacy and security are prompting Congress to work on new legislation to tighten restrictions.

As Congress and states seek to strengthen data security and privacy laws, ACA International will continue to advocate that these laws are uniformly applied to all private businesses and government entities that maintain consumer information. Further, we will continue to seek to eliminate overlap and inconsistencies between state and federal security and privacy mandates.

Fortunately, compliance and the effective protection of personal consumer information is a hallmark of the debt collection industry. Maintaining an exemplary track record relies on continued vigilance by all involved with the accounts receivables management industry. It also requires careful examination of new legislative and regulatory proposals to ensure there are no unintended consequences.