Six attorneys general gathered in Alabama last week for a one-and-a-half-day meeting of the Southern Region of the National Association of Attorneys General, Alabama Attorney General Luther Strange said.
Strange said joining him were attorneys general from Indiana, Georgia, Mississippi, Tennessee and Virginia. The meeting, titled “Big Data: Challenges and Opportunities,” looked at the constant risk of data breaches across the country.
“I’m pleased to report the successful conclusion of a very beneficial meeting of attorneys general from six states reaching across political and geographical lines to address the interrelated challenges of preventing data breaches while also protecting the fundamental right to privacy,” Strange said.
Strange said the discussions covered issues such as foreign cyber-attacks against businesses and governments, and the impact mobile device encryption has on law enforcement. Strange said that as more mobile devices shift storage to the “cloud,” there is a growing challenge between safeguarding property and protecting data.
Strange said the attorneys general, along with expert panelists, agreed that there is more work that needs to be done to strengthen the right to privacy for the public and to secure personal and business data.
Other discussions revolved around new threats and developing cyber-security risks, information gathered and learned from data breaches, a possible national law on data-breach disclosure, balancing privacy and big data, and the risks and benefits of storing public data on cloud servers.