Navigating Data Protection in Idaho: Current Insights

Idaho does not yet have a comprehensive data privacy law. To stay updated on the progress of privacy-related bills across the US, visit our US State Privacy Laws Tracker.

Cybersecurity threats are looming in every industry. In fact, data breach incidents are increasing every passing year, introducing more complex attack vectors. Additionally, the impact of data breach incidents isn’t limited to a company’s finances but also to its business reputation and customer trust. The significance of data protection laws continues to arise to protect individuals from any harm or injury and to provide enhanced privacy rights.

Notably, not every state in the US is protected by a comprehensive data privacy law. In fact, most states have yet to introduce any potential comprehensive data privacy bill. The state of Idaho is one such state that doesn’t have a comprehensive data privacy law.  Most of the regulations that apply in the state are either sectoral or federal.

The following guide talks about the state of data privacy laws in Idaho and how businesses can ensure compliance by considering some best practices.

The Current Status in Idaho

State of Federal Laws

Even if a state lacks an established comprehensive data privacy legal framework, businesses must be aware of the existing federal laws. These laws are equally critical and strict as state laws but with a limited scope. Although Idaho does not have a comprehensive data privacy law, federal laws still apply to businesses operating in Idaho, such as the GLBA, HIPAA, FCRA/FACTA, COPPA, and more. Let’s take a brief look at some of these federal laws.

• GLBA stands for the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act. This law is specifically dedicated to the financial industry and enhances financial services consumers' privacy and data protection rights. Financial institutions must keep consumers thoroughly informed about their organization's data-sharing practices and the best practices implemented to protect sensitive data.
• The Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act (CISA) is another critical federal regulation that private-sector companies must comply with. The Act protects data privacy and individual rights by enabling seamless sharing of threat-related information with government agencies.

Similar federal regulations protect certain categories of personal and sensitive personal data.

Business Best Practices

Businesses should follow the following best practices to comply with data protection laws.

• Build solid data assets and data inventory to gain insights into what sensitive data exists in the environment, what type of categories of sensitive data it is, and who has access to it, among other things.
• Create and maintain a privacy notice to provide transparency into data collection, processing, and sharing policies and practices.
• Conduct compliance risk assessment to gain visibility of the gaps in compliance with applicable laws and mitigate them to prevent legal consequences.
• Automate data mapping to understand data’s transformation over the years and mitigate security or access governance risks.