Colorado
Colorado Data Breach Notification Requirements
The 30-day clock, who it applies to, and the evidence that makes the deadline achievable.
The short answer
Colorado's breach notification statute, C.R.S. 6-1-716, requires notice to affected Colorado residents in the most expedient time possible and without unreasonable delay, and not later than 30 days after determining that a security breach occurred. If 500 or more Colorado residents are affected, the Colorado Attorney General must also be notified. There is no small-business exemption, and the deadline is only realistic if you can establish scope quickly.
What the statute covers
The obligation attaches to holding computerized personal information about Colorado residents. Personal information is defined broadly and includes a name combined with identifiers such as a Social Security number, a driver's license or identification number, an account or payment card number with the code that would allow access, medical or health insurance information, and biometric data. A username or email address together with a password or security question answer also counts.
For a professional services firm, that description covers a great deal of what sits in an ordinary mailbox and document store: engagement letters, tax records, medical liens, settlement paperwork, and payroll files.
This page summarizes a statute in general terms and is not legal advice. Whether a specific incident is a breach, and what notice it requires, is a decision for your counsel.
Why 30 days is tighter than it sounds
The clock starts when you determine a breach occurred. Most firms lose the first week deciding whether something happened at all, and the second week working out what was reached. Notification cannot be drafted until scope is known, because scope decides who gets notified.
- Sign-in and audit logging retained long enough to reconstruct an incident
- Mailbox auditing, so you can tell what an intruder actually opened
- An inventory of where client data lives, including shared drives and personal devices
- Alerting that surfaces a compromised account in hours rather than at month end
- Backups you have tested, so recovery is not competing with investigation
- A named contact at your counsel and your insurer before you need them
What about the Colorado Privacy Act?
The Colorado Privacy Act is a separate law with volume thresholds. It generally applies to businesses that control or process the personal data of large numbers of Colorado consumers in a year, or that derive revenue from selling personal data at a lower threshold. Most firms of 10 to 75 employees fall well below those thresholds, so it usually does not apply.
We mention it because it is frequently cited at small firms that are not actually subject to it. The breach notification statute is the one that reaches almost everyone, and it is the one worth preparing for.
Where to start
A Tecnico Ready security review establishes what logging and visibility you have today, which is what decides whether 30 days is comfortable or impossible. Tecnico Defend adds monitoring and retention. Firms in the two verticals we work with most can also see law firm cybersecurity rules and IRS WISP requirements.
Frequently asked questions
How long does Colorado give you to notify people?
Colorado requires notice to affected Colorado residents in the most expedient time possible and without unreasonable delay, and not later than 30 days after determining that a security breach occurred. That is one of the shorter windows in the country, and the clock starts at determination, not at discovery of something suspicious.
Does the Colorado Attorney General need to be told?
If the breach is reasonably believed to have affected 500 or more Colorado residents, the statute also requires notice to the Colorado Attorney General, within the same 30-day window. Larger breaches can also trigger notice to consumer reporting agencies.
Does this apply to a small firm?
The statute is about holding computerized personal information of Colorado residents, not about company size. A 20-person law or accounting firm holding client data is in scope. This is different from the Colorado Privacy Act, which has volume thresholds that exclude most small firms.
What makes the 30-day clock hard to meet?
Determining scope. If you cannot tell which mailboxes or files were reached, you cannot tell who to notify, and the clock keeps running while you find out. Logging and retention decided before an incident are what make that answer available in days rather than weeks.
Can Tecnico Desk handle notification for us?
No. Notification decisions are legal decisions and belong with your counsel. What we do is make the underlying facts available quickly: logging, alerting, access records, and backups, so your advisors can decide with real information.
Could you establish scope in 30 days?
Book a Security Fit Call and we will look at what your logging and visibility would actually tell you after an incident.