In February, we reported that South Dakota and Alabama were the last two U.S. states without data breach notification laws. Since then, both states have enacted data breach laws.
South Dakota governor Dennis Daugaard signed South Dakota Bill No. 62 into law on March 21, making it the 49th state to pass a data breach notification law. The law integrates contemporary principles found in other recently enacted state data breach laws. These principles include a broad definition of personal information—for example, employee ID numbers together with an access code or biometric data fall within the scope of the definition. The law requires companies to disclose a breach to affected consumers no later than 60 days from the date of discovery or notification of the security incident. Affected consumers include any South Dakota resident whose “personal or protected information was, or is reasonably believed to have been, acquired by an unauthorized person.”