Louisiana Insurance Data Security Statutes

Subject Entities

Applies to any person or nongovernmental entity that is licensed, authorized to operate, or registered or required to be licensed, authorized, or registered or required to be licensed pursuant to Louisiana’s insurance laws.

A licensee is exempt if it meets any of the following requirements:

• Has fewer than 25 employees
• Has less than $5 million in gross annual revenue
• Has less than $10 million in year-end total asset
• If subject to HIPAA, establishes and maintains an information security program that complies with HIPAA and submits a written statement certifying compliance upon request of the commissioner;
• Is an employee, agent, representative or designee of a licensee, who also is a licensee, to the extent that the employee, agent, representative or designee is covered by the information security program of the other licensee
• If affiliated with a depository institution subject to the Interagency Guidelines Establishing Information Security Standards pursuant to GLBA, and establishes an information security program compliant with applicable requirements and submits a written statement certifying compliance at the request of the Commissioner.

A licensee that is a financial institution is also exempt if it notifies affected Louisiana residents in a manner consistent with GLBA requirements and notifies the Commissioner in a manner consistent with and at the same time that federal regulatory authorities are notified.

Security Standard 

• Must develop, implement, and maintain a comprehensive written information security plan that:
• is based on the subject entity’s risk assessment;
• contains administrative, technical, and physical safeguards; and
• is commensurate with the size and complexity of the subject entity, the nature and scope of the subject entity’s activities including its use of third-party service providers, and the sensitivity of nonpublic information used by the subject entity or in the subject entity’s possession, custody, or control.

Type of Data Covered

Electronic.

Definitions

A “Cybersecurity event” means an event resulting in unauthorized access to or disruption or misuse of an information system or nonpublic information stored on an information system.

“Nonpublic information” means electronic information that is not publicly available information and is any of the following:

• Any information concerning a consumer which because of name, number, personal mark, or other identifier can be used to identify a consumer, in combination with any one or more of the following data elements:
  • Social Security number;
  • Driver’s license number or nondriver identification card number;
  • Financial account number or credit or debit card number;
  • Any security code, access code, or password that would permit access to a consumer’s financial account; or
  • Biometric records.
• Any information or data, except age or gender, in any form or medium created by or derived from a healthcare provider or a consumer, that can be used to identify a particular consumer, and that relates to any of the following:
  • The past, present, or future physical, mental, or behavioral health or condition of any consumer;
  • The provision of health care to any consumer; or
  • Payment for the provision of health care to any consumer.

Methods of Compliance

Written Information Security Program requirements:

• Protect the security and confidentiality of nonpublic information and the security of the information system;
• Protect against any threats or hazards to the security or integrity of nonpublic information and the information system;
• Protect against unauthorized access to or use of nonpublic information and minimize the likelihood of harm to any consumer; and
• Define and periodically reevaluate a schedule for retention of nonpublic information and a mechanism for its destruction when no longer needed.

Risk Assessment requirements:

• Designate one or more employees, an affiliate, or an outside vendor to act on behalf of the subject entity and to be responsible for the information security program;
• Identify reasonably foreseeable internal or external threats that could result in unauthorized access, transmission, disclosure, misuse, alteration, or destruction of nonpublic information, including the security of information systems and nonpublic information that are accessible to or held by third-party service providers;
• Assess the likelihood and potential damage of these threats, taking into consideration the sensitivity of the nonpublic information;
• Assess the sufficiency of policies, procedures, information systems, and other safeguards in place to manage these threats, including consideration of threats in each relevant area of the subject entity’s operations, including all of the following:
  • Employee training and management;
  • Information systems, including network and software design, as well as information classification, governance, processing, storage, transmission, and disposal; and
  • Detecting, preventing, and responding to attacks, intrusions, or other systems failures.

• And implement information safeguards to manage the threats identified in its ongoing assessment, and, no less than annually, assess the effectiveness of the safeguards’ key controls, systems, and procedures.

Based on the risk assessment, a subject entity must:

• Design an information security program to mitigate the identified risks, commensurate with the size and complexity of the subject entity, the nature and scope of the subject entity’s activities, including the use of third-party service providers, and the sensitivity of the nonpublic information used by the subject entity or in the subject entity’s possession, custody, or control;
• Implement the following security measures that the subject entity determines are appropriate:
  • Place access controls on information systems, including controls to authenticate and permit access only to authorized individuals to protect against the unauthorized acquisition of nonpublic information;
  • Identify and manage the data, personnel, devices, systems, and facilities that enable the organization to achieve business purposes in accordance with their relative importance to business objectives and the organization’s risk strategy;
  • Restrict physical access to nonpublic information to authorized individuals;
  • Protect by encryption or other appropriate means all nonpublic information while being transmitted over an external network and all nonpublic information stored on a laptop computer or other portable computing or storage device or media;
  • Adopt secure development practices for in-house developed applications used by the subject entity and procedures for evaluating, assessing, or testing the security of externally developed applications used by the subject entity;
  • Modify the information system in accordance with the subject entity’s information security program;
  • Use effective controls, which may include multifactor authentication procedures for any individual accessing nonpublic information;
  • Regularly test and monitor systems and procedures to detect actual and attempted attacks on or intrusions into information systems;
  • Include audit trails within the information security program designed to detect and respond to cybersecurity events and designed to reconstruct material financial transactions sufficient to support normal operations and obligations of the subject entity;
  • Implement measures to protect against destruction, loss, or damage of nonpublic information due to environmental hazards, such as fire and water damage or other catastrophes or technological failures;
  • Develop, implement, and maintain procedures for the secure disposal of nonpublic information in any format;
  • Include cybersecurity risks in the subject entity’s enterprise risk management process.
  • Stay informed regarding emerging threats or vulnerabilities;
  • Use reasonable security measures when sharing information relative to the character of the sharing and the type of information shared; and
  • Provide its personnel with cybersecurity awareness training that reflects current risks identified by the subject entity in the risk assessment.
• Monitor, evaluate, and adjust, as appropriate, the information security program consistent with any relevant changes in technology, the sensitivity of its nonpublic information, internal or external threats to information, and the subject entity’s own changing business arrangements, including but not limited to mergers and acquisitions, alliances and joint ventures, outsourcing arrangements, and changes to information systems.

Incident Response Plan requirements:

As a part of its information security program, a subject entity must establish a written incident response plan designed to promptly respond to, and recover from, any cybersecurity event that compromises the confidentiality, integrity, or availability of nonpublic information in its possession, the subject entity’s information systems, or the continuing functionality of any aspect of the subject entity’s business or operations.

The Incident Response Plan must address:

• The internal process for responding to a cybersecurity event;
• The goals of the incident response plan;
• The definition of clear roles, responsibilities, and levels of decision-making authority;
• External and internal communications and information sharing;
• Identification of requirements for the remediation of any identified weaknesses in information systems and associated controls;
• Documentation and reporting regarding cybersecurity events and related incident response activities; and
• The evaluation and revision of the incident response plan, as necessary, following a cybersecurity event.

(Effective August 1, 2022) Regarding third-party service providers, a licensee must:

• Exercise due diligence in selecting a third-party service provider; and
• Require third-party service providers to implement appropriate administrative, technical, and physical measures to protect and secure the information systems and nonpublic information that are accessible to or held by the third-party service provider.

If a subject entity has a board of directors, the board or an appropriate committee of the board shall, at a minimum require the subject entity’s executive management or delegates to:

• Develop, implement, and maintain the subject entity's information security program.
• Report in writing, at least annually, all of the following information:
  • The overall status of the information security program and the subject entity's compliance with this chapter.
  • Material matters related to the information security program, addressing issues such as risk assessment, risk management and control decisions, results of testing, cybersecurity events or violations, and management's responses to the material matters described in this subparagraph, and recommendations for changes in the information security program.
• If executive management delegates any of its responsibilities under this section, it shall oversee the development, implementation, and maintenance of the subject entity's information security program prepared by a delegates and shall receive a report from the delegates complying with the requirements of the report to the board of directors.

Government Notice Requirements

Licensees must notify the Insurance Commissioner without unreasonable delay but in no event later than three (3) business days from a determination that a cybersecurity event involving nonpublic information that is in the possession of the licensee has occurred when either of the following have occurred:

• Louisiana is the subject entity’s state of domicile or home state, and the cybersecurity event has reasonable likelihood of materially harming either a Louisiana resident or any material part of the normal operations of the subject entity; or
• The licensee reasonably believes that the nonpublic information involved is for 250 or more Louisiana consumers and that either of the following have occurred:
  • A cybersecurity event affecting the subject entity of which notice is required to be provided to any government body, self-regulatory agency, or any other supervisory body pursuant to any state or federal law; or
  • A cybersecurity event that has a reasonable likelihood of materially harming any of the following:
    • Any Louisiana resident; or
    • Any material part of the licensee’s normal operations 
  • The licensee shall have a continuing obligation to update and supplement initial and subsequent notifications to the commissioner regarding material changes to previously provided information relative to the cybersecurity event
  •  A licensee shall comply with the Database Security Breach Notification Law, R.S. 51:3071 et seq., as applicable, and shall provide to the commissioner a copy of the notice sent to consumers if the licensee is required to notify the commissioner pursuant to Subsection A of this Section.

Government Reporting

An insurer domiciled in Louisiana  must submit a written report by February 15 every year certifying its compliance with the required information security standards. It must maintain for examination all records, schedules, and data supporting the certificate for a period of five years. If a Louisiana-domiciled insurer identifies areas, systems, or processes that require material improvement, update, or redesign, it must document the identification and the remediation efforts planned and underway to address the areas, systems, or processes, and make such documentation available for inspection by the Insurance Commissioner.