Federal Cyber Breach Reporting Rules Reach an Uneasy Balance

New data breach notification rules from the US Federal Trade Commission underline the growing tension between the government’s efforts to increase its understanding of national cybersecurity threats and reduce overlap among dozens of reporting regulations.

The consumer protection agency on Friday announced finalized amendments to its Safeguards Rule requiring lenders that aren’t banks—including mortgage brokers and auto dealers—to report information about the scope of security incidents affecting the unencrypyted data of 500 or more customers “as soon as possible,” and within 30 days at most.

Companies that retain consumers’ sensitive data can be subject to an array of more than ...