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<law><site_title>Virginia Decoded</site_title><site_url>https://vacode.org</site_url><law_id>86014</law_id><section_number>38.2-621</section_number><catch_line>Definitions</catch_line><edition url="https://vacode.org/2025/" slug="2025" current="TRUE" last_updated="">2025</edition><structure><unit label="title" level="1" order_by="1" identifier="38.2">Insurance</unit><unit label="chapter" level="2" order_by="1" identifier="6">Insurance Information and Privacy Protection</unit><unit label="article" level="3" order_by="1" identifier="2">Insurance Data Security Act</unit></structure><text>
						<section><p>As used in this article:
		&#x201C;<span class="dictionary">Authorized person</span>&#x201D; means a person known to and authorized by the <span class="dictionary">licensee</span> and determined to be necessary and appropriate to have access to the <span class="dictionary">nonpublic information</span> held by the <span class="dictionary">licensee</span> and its <span class="dictionary">information systems</span>.
		&#x201C;<span class="dictionary">Consumer</span>&#x201D; means an individual, including applicants, policyholders, insureds, beneficiaries, claimants, and certificate holders, who is a resident of the Commonwealth and whose <span class="dictionary">nonpublic information</span> is in the <span class="dictionary">possession</span>, <span class="dictionary">custody</span>, or control of a <span class="dictionary">licensee</span> or an <span class="dictionary">authorized person</span>.
		&#x201C;<span class="dictionary">Cybersecurity event</span>&#x201D; means an event resulting in unauthorized access to, disruption of, or misuse of an <span class="dictionary">information system</span> or <span class="dictionary">nonpublic information</span> in the <span class="dictionary">possession</span>, <span class="dictionary">custody</span>, or control of a <span class="dictionary">licensee</span> or an <span class="dictionary">authorized person</span>. &#x201C;<span class="dictionary">Cybersecurity event</span>&#x201D; does not include (i) the unauthorized acquisition of <span class="dictionary">encrypted</span> <span class="dictionary">nonpublic information</span> if the encryption, process, or key is not also acquired, released, or used without authorization or (ii) an event in which the <span class="dictionary">licensee</span> has determined that the <span class="dictionary">nonpublic information</span> accessed by an unauthorized person has not been used or released and has been returned or destroyed.
		&#x201C;<span class="dictionary">Encrypted</span>&#x201D; means the transformation of data into a form that results in a low probability of assigning meaning without the use of a protective process or key.
		&#x201C;<span class="dictionary">HIPAA</span>&#x201D; means the federal Health <span class="dictionary">Insurance</span> Portability and Accountability Act (42 U.S.C. &#xA7;&#xA0;1320d et seq.).
		&#x201C;<span class="dictionary">Home state</span>&#x201D; means the <span class="dictionary">jurisdiction</span> in which the producer maintains its principal place of residence or principal place of business and is licensed by that <span class="dictionary">jurisdiction</span> to act as a resident <span class="dictionary">insurance</span> producer.
		&#x201C;<span class="dictionary">Information security program</span>&#x201D; means the administrative, technical, and physical safeguards that a <span class="dictionary">licensee</span> uses to access, collect, distribute, process, protect, store, use, transmit, dispose of, or otherwise handle <span class="dictionary">nonpublic information</span>.
		&#x201C;<span class="dictionary">Information system</span>&#x201D; means a discrete set of electronic information resources organized for the collection, processing, maintenance, use, sharing, dissemination, or <span class="dictionary">disposition</span> of electronic information, as well as any specialized system such as industrial or process control systems, telephone switching and private branch exchange systems, and environmental control systems.
		&#x201C;<span class="dictionary"><span class="dictionary">Insurance</span>-support organization</span>&#x201D; has the same meaning as provided in &#xA7;&#xA0;<a class="law" title="Definitions" href="/38.2-602/">38.2-602</a>.
		&#x201C;<span class="dictionary">Licensee</span>&#x201D; means any person licensed, authorized to operate, or registered, or required to be licensed, authorized, or registered pursuant to the <span class="dictionary">insurance</span> <span class="dictionary">laws</span> of the Commonwealth. &#x201C;<span class="dictionary">Licensee</span>&#x201D; does not include a purchasing group or a risk retention group chartered and licensed in a state other than the Commonwealth or a person that is acting as an assuming <span class="dictionary">insurer</span> that is domiciled in another state or <span class="dictionary">jurisdiction</span>.
		&#x201C;<span class="dictionary">Nonpublic information</span>&#x201D; means information that is not <span class="dictionary">publicly available information</span> and is:</p></section>
						<section id="1"><p><span class="prefix-number">1.</span> Business-related information of a <span class="dictionary">licensee</span> the tampering with which, or the unauthorized disclosure, access, or use of which, would cause a <span class="dictionary">material</span> adverse impact to the business, operations, or security of the <span class="dictionary">licensee</span>; <a id="paragraph-308042" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/38.2-621/#1"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section>
						<section id="2"><p><span class="prefix-number">2.</span> Any information concerning a <span class="dictionary">consumer</span> that because of name, number, personal mark, or other identifier can be used to identify such <span class="dictionary">consumer</span>, in any combination with a <span class="dictionary">consumer</span>&#x2019;s (i) social security number; (ii) driver&#x2019;s license number or nondriver identification card number; (iii) financial account, credit card, or debit card number; (iv) security code, access code, or password that would permit access to a <span class="dictionary">consumer</span>&#x2019;s financial account; (v) passport number; (vi) military identification number; or (vii) biometric records; or <a id="paragraph-308043" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/38.2-621/#2"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section>
						<section id="3"><p><span class="prefix-number">3.</span> Any information or data, except age or gender, in any form or medium created by or derived from a health care provider or a <span class="dictionary">consumer</span> that can be used to identify a particular <span class="dictionary">consumer</span>, and that relates to (i) the past, present, or future physical, mental, or behavioral health or condition of any <span class="dictionary">consumer</span> or a member of the <span class="dictionary">consumer</span>&#x2019;s family; (i) the provision of health care to any <span class="dictionary">consumer</span>; or (iii) payment for the provision of health care to any <span class="dictionary">consumer</span>.
			&#x201C;<span class="dictionary">Nonpublic information</span>&#x201D; does not include a <span class="dictionary">consumer</span>&#x2019;s personally identifiable information that has been anonymized using a method no less secure than the safe harbor method under <span class="dictionary">HIPAA</span>.
			&#x201C;Person&#x201D; means any individual or any nongovernmental entity, including any nongovernmental partnership, corporation, branch, agency, or association.
			&#x201C;<span class="dictionary">Publicly available information</span>&#x201D; means any information that a <span class="dictionary">licensee</span> has a reasonable basis to believe is lawfully made available to the general public from federal, state, or local government records; widely distributed media; or disclosures to the general public that are required to be made by federal, state, or local <span class="dictionary">law</span>. A <span class="dictionary">licensee</span> has a reasonable basis to believe that information is lawfully made available to the general public if the <span class="dictionary">licensee</span> has taken steps to determine (i) that the information is of the type that is available to the general public and (ii) whether a <span class="dictionary">consumer</span> can direct that the information not be made available to the general public and, if so, that such <span class="dictionary">consumer</span> has not done so.
			&#x201C;<span class="dictionary">Third-<span class="dictionary">party</span> service provider</span>&#x201D; means (i) a person, not otherwise defined as a <span class="dictionary">licensee</span>, that <span class="dictionary">contracts</span> with a <span class="dictionary">licensee</span> to maintain, process, or store <span class="dictionary">nonpublic information</span>, or otherwise is permitted access to <span class="dictionary">nonpublic information</span> through its provision of services to the <span class="dictionary">licensee</span> or (ii) an <span class="dictionary"><span class="dictionary">insurance</span>-support organization</span>. <a id="paragraph-308044" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/38.2-621/#3"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section></text><history>2020, c. 264.</history><metadata></metadata></law>
