Data Breach Notification Laws and their Effectiveness: A Comparative Study of Different Jurisdictional Laws, Notification Timelines, and Practical Guide on Approaching Data Breach Notification Laws. How Effective are Data Breach Notification Laws in Safeguarding Consumer Data?

Abstract

Millions of people are affected by data breaches every year, A data breach may have occurred when unauthorized individuals gain access to confidential, private, or otherwise sensitive information. Examples of data breaches include Phishing, malware threats, insider threats, physical breaches, password guessing, and ransomware. When this data from the breach falls into the wrong hands, it can be used for criminal activities such as financial fraud, identity theft, and extortion. The consequences of a data breach can be severe such as economic losses, reputational damage, legal implications, and potential harm to victims In 2024 we had a couple of reported data breaches, some of which were the biggest and most damaging in recent history 1. These breaches affect the individuals whose data was irretrievably exposed and embolden the criminals who profit from their malicious cyberattacks 2. In June 2024, A Russia-based ransomware gang was blamed for the cyberattack on a U.K. pathology lab Synnovis, a blood and tissue testing lab for hospitals and health services across the U.K. capital which caused ongoing widespread disruption to patient services for weeks. This cyberattack saw the theft of data related to some 300 million patient interactions which caused local National Health Service trusts that rely on the lab to postpone thousands of operations and procedures following the hack, prompting the declaration of a critical incident across the U.K. health sector 3 . Cybercriminals were able to take control of 560 million Ticketmaster customer data by using stolen credentials of data engineers with access to their employer’s cloud data giant Snowflake environments. These are a few of the examples of data breach occurrences that have led to the loss of consumer data involving big tech giant companies. The priority of every corporate organization is the protection of every customer's data, measures are taken to ensure the safety of this data but sometimes data breaches and leaks do unfortunately occur. Recognizing the potential harm caused by data breaches, many jurisdictions have enacted data breach notification laws to protect consumer rights and foster transparency. These laws mandate that organizations notify affected individuals and, in some cases, regulatory authorities when a data breach occurs. This paper will take a deep dive into understanding data breach notification laws and their effectiveness, a comparative study of the different notification laws in Nigeria, Canada, and the USA will be considered. This paper will consider How effective are data breach notification laws in safeguarding consumer data and also consider a comparative study of data breach notification laws in Nigeria, Canada, and the United States of America.