Information Destruction Laws

With identity theft and information fraud at an all-time high, the federal government has enacted over 40 information destruction laws to protect consumers. Here’s a synopsis of the four most significant pieces of consumer information protection legislation:

FACTA
The Fair and Accurate Credit Transaction Act (FACTA) requires that any individual or business that maintains personal consumer information must take reasonable care to protect against unauthorized access to this information, and they must also destroy personal consumer information before it is discarded. Violation of FACTA, which went into effect in 2005, can mean fines and penalties of up to $2,500 for each consumer record compromised.

For more information about FACTA click here

HIPAA
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) sets national standards for the protection of personal health information. HIPAA, which went into effect in 1996, requires all healthcare providers, including any organization that transmits personal health information, to maintain the confidentiality of this information and to destroy the information before it is discarded.

For more information about HIPAA click here

GLB
The Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act requires that all financial institutions protect the confidential information of their clients. Banks, credit unions, mortgage companies, investment and financial services firms and insurance underwriters are among those affected. Fines for violating GLB can be severe. American United Mortgage Company was fined $50.000 for violating GLB (learn more).

For more information about GLB click here

Red Flags Rule
The Red Flags Rule was created by the Federal Trade Commission and the National Credit Union Administration to help prevent identity theft. For more information about the Red Flags Rule click here.

100 Million Confidential Files Breached Every Year
Think a security breach can’t happen to your organization? Think again! Since they began tracking security breaches in Jan. 2005, Privacy Rights.org has documented, on average, 100 million confidential files breached every year, in every imaginable industry. For a comprehensive list of all these information security breaches, click here.