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Information Destruction Laws
Identity theft and information fraud is at an all-time high. The federal government has enacted over 40 information destruction laws to protect consumers. These are the three most significant pieces of consumer information protection legislation:
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.
Total Security Breaches Nationwide Tops 355 Million!
Think a security breach can’t happen to your organization? Think again! Since they began tracking security breaches in Jan. 2005, PrivacyRights.Org reports that as of this writing, over 355 million confidential files, in every imaginable industry, have been compromised. For a comprehensive list of these information security breaches, click here.
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.
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.
Shredding Services
From On-Site Shredding To Recycling … What You Need To Know About Your Information Destruction Options. Here are the options from which you can choose. You can:
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Hire a shredding service.
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Purchase an office shredder.
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Simply recycle.
The cost of each option varies, as does the level of security. Here is a review of each:
Most Secure
Mobile Shredding Services
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Professional
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High Speed
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Done at your facility
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Certificate of Destruction
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All material recycled
Less Secure
Offsite Shredding
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Material Taken to an unknown location to be shredded
Desk Side Shredding
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Most strip-shred materials
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Shredders break down
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Confidential material not secured prior to shredding
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SLOW
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Difficult to shred disks/CD’s
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Material not recycled
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High cost
Not Secure
Recycling and Disposal
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Potential loss of confidential company information
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Potential loss of employee and customer information.
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Violation of numerous Laws and regulations resulting in fines and penalties
We have been working with Absolute Shredding for several years. They give you the personal service you want, at an affordable price and consistently provide an excellent level of service. They are very accommodating if you need to change any regularly scheduled pick up days due to your office schedule, and Noreen in the office is always on top of everything and willing to help whenever your needs change. I highly recommend them to anyone looking for secure, reliable, affordable shredding services.
--Kathy at Hryshko & Associates