WISP requirements in Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania changed materially with 2024 amendments, so a stale breach workflow is risky. A Pennsylvania WISP incident file should preserve discovery and determination dates, the resident count, whether the 500-person Attorney General and consumer-reporting-agency thresholds apply, and whether the credit-reporting or monitoring provision is triggered by Social Security, bank-account, or driver-license/State-ID data.
Key facts
- Pennsylvania firms should keep a written security program tied to the FTC Safeguards Rule and IRS taxpayer-data guidance.
- Resident notice without unreasonable delay after determination, subject to law-enforcement delay and scope/restoration needs; Attorney General notice concurrently for more than 500 affected Pennsylvania individuals; consumer-reporting-agency notice when more than 500 persons are notified at one time.
- Notify the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General concurrently when breach notice must be given to more than 500 affected individuals in Pennsylvania; the report includes organization location, breach date, incident summary, total affected individuals, and Pennsylvania resident count to the extent known.
Key takeaways
- Pennsylvania firms should keep a written security program tied to the FTC Safeguards Rule and IRS taxpayer-data guidance.
- Resident notice without unreasonable delay after determination, subject to law-enforcement delay and scope/restoration needs; Attorney General notice concurrently for more than 500 affected Pennsylvania individuals; consumer-reporting-agency notice when more than 500 persons are notified at one time.
- Notify the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General concurrently when breach notice must be given to more than 500 affected individuals in Pennsylvania; the report includes organization location, breach date, incident summary, total affected individuals, and Pennsylvania resident count to the extent known.
- The WISP should preserve evidence, remediation steps, and annual review records.
Do Pennsylvania tax preparers need a WISP?
Yes, if they are covered by the FTC Safeguards Rule or IRS tax-data security expectations, they should maintain a written plan. Pennsylvania state breach-notice duties make incident planning especially important.
The WISP should start with federal obligations because the Safeguards Rule supplies the security-program structure.
Pennsylvania requires concurrent notice to the Office of Attorney General when notice must be given to more than 500 affected Pennsylvania individuals.
What is specific to Pennsylvania?
Resident notice without unreasonable delay after determination, subject to law-enforcement delay and scope/restoration needs; Attorney General notice concurrently for more than 500 affected Pennsylvania individuals; consumer-reporting-agency notice when more than 500 persons are notified at one time. The plan should identify who evaluates state notice, who contacts counsel, and where the decision record is kept.
State breach-notification law does not replace the Safeguards Rule. It adds a state-specific response layer when an incident affects Pennsylvania residents.
Pennsylvania residents whose unencrypted and unredacted personal information was, or is reasonably believed to have been, accessed and acquired by an unauthorized person after a breach determination.
Notify the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General concurrently when breach notice must be given to more than 500 affected individuals in Pennsylvania; the report includes organization location, breach date, incident summary, total affected individuals, and Pennsylvania resident count to the extent known.
What should the WISP say?
It should describe real safeguards, assign responsibility, map vendors and systems, and include an incident-response path that reaches state-law review quickly.
For a small firm, the strongest plan is plain and evidence-backed: MFA records, backup tests, access reviews, training, vendor lists, and remediation dates.
The plan should never promise a control that is not actually in place.
| Topic | Pennsylvania planning note | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Federal WISP | Use 16 CFR Part 314 as the program backbone | WISP and annual review |
| IRS tax data | Account for taxpayer records, PTIN practice, portals, and e-file workflows | System inventory and access list |
| Breach notice | Resident notice without unreasonable delay after determination, subject to law-enforcement delay and scope/restoration needs; Attorney General notice concurrently for more than 500 affected Pennsylvania individuals; consumer-reporting-agency notice when more than 500 persons are notified at one time. | Incident clock and counsel review record |
| Regulator path | Notify the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General concurrently when breach notice must be given to more than 500 affected individuals in Pennsylvania; the report includes organization location, breach date, incident summary, total affected individuals, and Pennsylvania resident count to the extent known. | Notification decision log |
| State statute | Breach of Personal Information Notification Act, 73 P.S. §§ 2301-2308 | Source URL retained in page sources |
FAQ
Is this legal advice?
No. Policywright is a configurable template product, not a law firm and not legal advice. A qualified lawyer should review state-law reliance or breach-notification decisions.
Does a small firm still need a written plan?
Yes. The Safeguards Rule requires a written information security program for covered financial institutions, and IRS guidance tells paid tax preparers to maintain a written data security plan.
What if a control is not in place yet?
A serious WISP should not pretend. It should identify the gap, assign an owner, set a target date, and preserve a dated remediation record.
Does Pennsylvania have its own WISP law?
This page does not claim a standalone Pennsylvania WISP statute for every firm. It explains how federal WISP duties should be paired with Pennsylvania breach-notification planning.
Who reviews Pennsylvania breach notice?
The incident plan should route state-law decisions through qualified counsel and preserve any Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General regulator-notice analysis.
Sources
- FTC Safeguards Rule, 16 CFR Part 314 (eCFR)
- FTC, Safeguards Rule: What Your Business Needs to Know
- FTC, Safeguards Rule notification requirement now in effect (16 CFR 314.4(j), eff. May 13, 2024)
- IRS Publication 5708, Creating a Written Information Security Plan
- IRS Publication 4557, Safeguarding Taxpayer Data
- IRS Form W-12, PTIN Application and Renewal
- IRS Publication 1345, Handbook for Authorized IRS e-file Providers
- Pennsylvania Breach of Personal Information Notification Act
- Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General data breach report form
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