Arkansas: An Overview of Data Protection & Data Privacy Law

Arkansas 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.

The world is increasingly dependent on digital transactions, and users increasingly use sensitive information such as credit card numbers or account details. This calls for robust data protection measures to secure sensitive information against unauthorized access or abuse. To provide users with better control over their data and hold businesses liable for the secure handling of user data, comprehensive data privacy, and protection laws are being enacted across the globe.

Data privacy and protection laws give users transparency into how a business collects, uses, shares, and sells their data. They also give individuals privacy rights to enable better control of how users want their data to be used or collected.

Although data privacy laws are becoming common worldwide, certain regions still lack comprehensive ones. Arkansas is one such state in the US that has not yet enacted its version of a data protection regulation. However, regardless of the absence of a comprehensive state privacy law, certain other sectoral or federal legislations may still apply to businesses operating in Arkansas.

The Current Status in Arkansas

Federal Laws and Regulations

Despite the absence of a comprehensive data protection law, certain existing federal laws may significantly influence how a business operates and practices in Arkansas. Let’s take, for example, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). The law applies to healthcare service providers in the US and provides provisions associated with security, privacy, and breach notifications. HIPAA may cover personally identifiable information (PII), such as social security numbers, medical diagnosis information, etc.

Another important example of a federal regulation is the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). The law applies to credit reporting agencies that handle consumers’ credit reports and history. The law demands that the agencies allow users free access to their credit reports once every 12 months, ensure accurate management of their credit details, and reduce identity fraud.

Best Practices

Compliance with data protection laws requires a wider approach that includes various aspects. To ensure compliance, businesses operating in Arkansas can consider the following best practices.

• Keep a solid inventory of data assets and the data. This gives organizations a complete view of their data whereabouts and other key insights.
• Leverage data mapping automation to get a visualized view of your data movements across various systems. With robust mapping, organizations get a comprehensive view of their data lineage across its lifecycle.
• Automate privacy notices to enable data collection and processing transparency and to demonstrate compliance.
• Establish a data breach analysis and response framework to mitigate risks and automate breach notifications.

Conclusion

Arkansas currently lacks a comprehensive data protection regulation. However, businesses must prepare ahead of time to foster customer trust.