The Oklahoma State Legislature recently enacted Senate Bill 626, amending its Security Breach Notification Act, effective January 1, 2026, to address gaps in the state's current cybersecurity framework (the "Amendment"). The Amendment includes new definitions, mandates reporting to the state Attorney General, clarifies compliance with similar laws, and provides revised penalty provisions, including affirmative defenses.
Definitions
The Amendment provides clearer definitions related to security breaches, specifying what constitutes "personal information" and "reasonable safeguards."
- Personal Information: The existing definition for "Personal Information" was expanded to also include (1) a unique electronic identifier or routing code in combination with any required security code, access code, or password that would permit access to an individual's financial account and (2) unique biometric data such as a fingerprint, retina or iris image, or other unique physical or digital representation of biometric data to authenticate a specific individual.
- Reasonable Safeguards: The Amendment provides an affirmative defense in a civil action under the law for individuals or entities that have "Reasonable safeguards" in place, which are defined as "policies and practices that ensure personal information is secure, taking into consideration an entity's size and the type and amount of personal information. The term includes, but is not limited to, conducting risk assessments, implementing technical and physical layered defenses, employee training on handling personal information, and establishing an incident response plan".
Mandated Reporting and Exceptions
In the new year, entities required to provide notice to impacted individuals under the law in case of a breach will also be required to notify the Attorney General. The notification must include specific details including, but not limited to, the type of personal information impacted the nature of the breach, the number of impacted individuals, the estimated monetary impact of the breach to the extent such can be determined, and any reasonable safeguards the entity employs. The notification to the Attorney General must occur no more than 60 days after notifying affected residents.
However, breaches affecting fewer than 500 residents, or fewer than 1,000 residents in the case of credit bureaus, are exempt from the requirement to notify the Attorney General.
In addition, an exception from individual notification is provided for entities that comply with notification requirements under the Oklahoma Hospital Cybersecurity Protection Act of 2023 or the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) if such entities provide the requisite notice to the Attorney General.
What Entities Should Do Now
- Inventory data. Conduct an inventory to determine what personal information is collected given the newly covered data elements.
- Review and update policies and practices. Reevaluate and update current information security policies and procedures to ensure proper reasonable safeguards are in place. Moreover, to ensure that an entity's policies and procedures remain reasonably designed, they should be periodically reviewed and updated.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
