Privacy gets its day at Senate Commerce; is there more to come?

This week's Senate Commerce hearing on consumer data security and privacy was a long-awaited step that revealed a narrowing of differences over potential legislation, but a bipartisan breakthrough is far from imminent, even with the looming Jan. 1 implementation date for California's historic privacy law as a driver for federal action.

Always-contentious breach notification standards are no longer a part of this privacy debate, but that's not making the path much easier. And, it remains unclear whether a compromise in...