Minn. Lawmakers Want Tighter Database Security

ST. PAUL (AP) - Minnesota lawmakers say more oversight and stricter punishment is needed to curb repeat misuse of databases. 

Sen. Scott Dibble, a Minneapolis Democrat, and Rep. Mary Liz Holberg, a Republican from Lakeville, outlined a bill Wednesday that would increase the criminal penalty for government employees who improperly access private databases. 

The bill also requires all government bodies, state and local, to lay out policies that restrict which employees can access the data, and requires agencies to publicly post an investigation after a breach occurs.   

Holberg says the string of recent database abuses has to stop.

Most recently, the Department of Natural Resources discovered an employee had accessed driving records of more than 5,000 Minnesotans. The DNR has not named the employee. Holberg and Dibble's bill would require them to do so.

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