Compare policies to various compliance regimes such as PCI DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard) and generate reports for audits.

FORBES: Reduce Policy Complications to Enhance Security

And, in the payments industry, self-policing is in place through the PCI-DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard) which, while not a federal law, has become law in some states.

FORBES: The Epsilon Hack Attack: Time For "SOX For Consumers"?

Other features include full data path protection, embedded AES (Advanced Encryption Standard) engines for data security, and other resource optimization features.

ENGADGET: BiTMICRO's next-gen SSD controller to deliver blazing speed and big storage in 2012

Bloomberg Chief Executive Daniel Doctoroff said the company wants to "go even further and get the benefit of independent leading experts so that we set the new standard for privacy and data security, " in a statement announcing Mr. Palmisano's appointment Friday.

WSJ: Bloomberg Taps Ex-IBM Chief Palmisano to Look Into Data Practices

What about requiring every third-party service provider to protect personal customer data through encryption, tokenization or another advanced security technology, through clauses written into and enforced as part of standard service level agreements?

FORBES: The Epsilon Hack Attack: Time For "SOX For Consumers"?

However, he said, many security researchers were getting interested in the sensors that came as standard in smartphones largely because the data they gathered was not subject to the same controls that governs other phone functions.

BBC: Smartphone sensors reveal security secrets