Capital One Data Breach Sparks State Attorney General Probes (2)

Capital One Financial Corp. is facing inquiries from attorneys general in New York, Connecticut and Illinois into its massive data breach and more state probes are likely to follow, privacy attorneys said.

State attorneys general can use authorities under their consumer protection laws, many of which prohibit unfair and deceptive practices, to assess whether companies have reasonable data security protections, attorneys said. Personal information protection statutes and data breach notification laws can also be the basis for state investigations.

Separate inquiries may ultimately be merged into a single multi-state investigation. Groups of states have teamed up in the past to ...