In the last two years, 1,057,560 Massachusetts residents have been affected by reported data breach incidents according to a report released by the Commonwealth (PDF).

A new Massachusetts law, set to go into effect on March 1, 2010, will require that “personal information” stored on laptops and other portable devices must be encrypted. Personal information is defined under the law as, “a resident’s first and last name, or first initial and last name, in combination with any one or more of the resident’s: (a) social security number; (b) driver’s license number or state issued ID number, or (c) financial account number, or credit or debit card number…”

It is believed that with the new Data Breach Law,  

the incidence of security breaches caused by unintentional but careless practices will decrease, as will the potential damage to residents whose information is gathered by unauthorized persons, since their information will be guarded by more robust protections, including encryption of information.

Data Security