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    Shredding Laws and Your Business

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    It is no longer a matter of common courtesy for you and your business to shred your customers’ confidential information. The rise in identity theft crimes has caused congress to act by passing three major pieces of legislation that require businesses to completely destroy any documents containing certain kinds of sensitive information before discarding. The penalties and fines can be steep, ranging from $1000 to $500,000, not to mention the risk of civil litigation and liability. The three pieces of legislation are known as FACTA, HIPAA, and GLB. In this article we will dive into each of these regulations, how you can best comply, and what the risks of non-compliance are.

    1. Fair and Accurate Credit Transaction Act. Also known as FACTA, This law was signed into effect in 2003. FACTA was designed specifically to reduce the growing risks of credit, idenity, and consumer fraud, by requiring businesses to properly destroy confidential information upon discarding it. Not only applying to businesses, the disposal rule essentially applies to every person in the US. The information that must be discarded include: address information, employment histories, credit histories, and social security numbers. The penalties for non-compliance can be pretty steep. Other than putting yourself at risk for a civil suit and the attending legal costs, if it can be proven that your mishandling of sensitive info resulted in an identity crime being committed, your state can fine you $1000 per infraction, and the feds can nip you for $5000 per incidence.
    2. Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. Known as HIPAA, this regulation applies to the health care industry, and is intended to prevent abuses of personal health information, including unauthorized access. The Institutions that are required to comply with the regulation are called “Covered Entities,” and include all organizations and even individuals, who collect health-care related information. This can include doctors, urgent care centers, hospitals, billing centers, and even collection agencies. According to HIPAA, all covered entities must have documented policies that define the measures they have instituted to prevent unauthorized access. Non-compliance in this case could cost the offender a whopping $500,000.
    3. Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act. The GLB Act applies to financial institutions and requires any companies that are engaged in financial activities go provide secure handling of client records and information. Companies that would be included in this are banks, mortgage companies, insurers, and investment houses.

    You may be surprised to hear that it is not against the law for someone to go through your trash. A 1988 Supreme Court ruling stated that once the trash is left for pickup, it is public domain. This is an easy way for your business to lose its competitive edge, as well as its customers’ confidential information. With the ease and convenience that is afforded by having your own shredders in house, there is no reason for your business to put itself at risk. One quick and easy solution is for all of your employees who handle and regularly discard confidential information to have their own desk side shredders. Or you can place a larger shredder in a central location in your office. Either way, you need to make sure that you protect your business and your clients by shredding all confidential information.

    Shredders and Your Document Safety Program

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    When you consider the inherent and increasing dangers of identity theft and corporate spying, as well as new federal regulations, it makes sense for your business to have one, if not several, paper shredders on hand to destroy the confidential documents you aren’t able to keep under lock and key. Having shredders on hand is, however only the beginning. Shredders are only effective if you and your people use them. One way to get your employees involved in the document security process is to implement a company-wide document safety program. Here are some tips to get your program started.

    1. Know The Laws: New federal regulations make your business liable for the information you throw away. Known as FACTA, the law requires that individuals and businesses destroy such information as social security numbers, credit histories, and address information before discarding it. Make sure that your employees are aware of these laws, as the penalties and fines for non-compliance can be steep, not to mention the civil liability and loss of business that could occur as a result of mishandled documents.
    2. Purchase Shredders and Supplies: There are many choices on the market, but at the very least, it is highly recommended that you purchase a shredder with cross-cutting capabilities. Also, when you shop, think of how many people will be using the machine, and how often. It seems obvious, but is only human nature that the more shredders you can place within a shorter distance of more people, the more they will get used. And that is exactly what you want.
    3. Buy A Laminator And Supplies For Your Employees And Visitors: Depending on the kind of office you run, every person on the floor should be accounted for. Having your own laminator and requisite supplies is one way to help your security people keep track of everyone. You can use the laminator to create ID badges and visitor badges to help identify every person in your building.
    4. Train Your People: The sooner you can develop a training plan for your employees, the better. Show them how to identify a properly protected workplace, how to use their shredder, it’s specs and capabilities. Be sure that all of your employees understand what documents need to be shredded daily.
    5. Designate A Key Holder: This is someone in your office who will make sure that all employees have the cabinet keys they need in order to lock up their confidential materials. Make sure that all filing cabinets and office doors are locked when the office will be unoccupied for a long time, and/or at the end of each day. Also, assign keys to central locked cabinets to either one person, or only to those who will need regular access to them.
    6. Conduct Surprise Audits: No one likes this particular kind of surprise, but no one appreciates having their important and confidential documents fall into the wrong hands either. One idea is to assign one person in each department to conduct surprise desk tests. You can then reward the employees who pass the test and reeducate those who don’t.

    Of course, you know best how to motivate your employees to make document security a priority. We just hope we’ve given you some ideas to help get you started.

    Six Easy Ways to Prevent Identity Theft

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    These days, there is no bigger threat to your financial security than identity theft. It is alarming how many ways those who would seek to defraud you are finding to get at your sensitive information. Here are a few ways you can help prevent identity theft from ever happening.

    1. Get A Paper Shredder: This is the easiest way of all to protect your sensitive information. In fact, it is almost unthinkable that you would still be merely throwing away or recycling anything that has your personal information on it. It should go without saying that all of your credit card and bank statements, if they are not filed, should be destroyed by a shredding, by you, on site. One item that also needs to be destroyed, that might go unnoticed, however, is credit card applications. They can often fall into the wrong hands and be used by someone else to obtain credit in your name. To the shredder with them!
    2. Protect your PIN: Whenever you use an ATM or a debit card at a grocery store, it wouldn’t hurt to take a quick look over your shoulder to make sure that no one is watching you key in your secret code number. There is no end to the damage a criminal can do armed only with your name and PIN.
    3. Keep The Check Out Of The Mail: If at all possible, have checks you have coming in directly deposited to your bank account. Conversely, if you still use personal checks to pay your bills, take them to the post office, or put them in a US mail box yourself. Identity thieves love to watch for people to put out their mail and then steal it before the mail person arrives to pick it up.
    4. Check Your Monthly Statements: Often, identity thieves will make purchases with your accounts that are so small you may not notice them right away. Look at your statement closely for anything you may not have purchased. If you notice anything that you don’t recognize investigate it further. Don’t be afraid to call your bank or the credit card company and ask questions about a specific transaction.
    5. Carry The Bare Minimum With You: You should have your social security number memorized, and if you don’t, do it now. There is no reason to keep the card in your wallet, and the same rule applies to any credit cards you don’t use. If your wallet or purse is stolen you don’t want the thieves to have your SSN or access to a huge number of credit cards.
    6. Get To Know FACTA: In 2005, the government put in place regulations that require businesses to destroy any sensitive information derived from their clients or customers before throwing it away. Known as the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act, it was put in place to help ensure that identity thieves-or anyone else for that matter– can’t get their hands on any of your confidential information. Though it is likely that the people you do business with are in compliance with the law, is doesn’t hurt to ask. Just as you should have a shredder, those whom you do business with should too.

    Again, the easiest way to make sure that your most sensitive information doesn’t fall into the wrong hands is to destroy it. If everyone used a shredder, it is safe to say that identity theft would happen a lot less often. Follow these six simple steps and help protect yourself from identity theft today.

    10 Ways to Use Shredding to Keep Your Business Safe From Corporate Espionage

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    Though it may sound a little bit “cloak and dagger,” corporate spying is a huge, billion dollar problem that presents a certain amount of danger for almost any size business. There are many ways to keep your strategic and competitive information secure, but no option is better than on site document shredding. You may be asking yourself what documents need to be shredded in order to best protect yourself, and you might be surprised at the ways that certain information can be used against you. Here then is a list of documents that your business should ensure are kept safe, and properly destroyed when no longer in use. It goes without saying that in most cases, an original of the document in question should be kept under lock and key, and that any copies used for meetings, memos, etc. are the ones that should be destroyed by shredding.

    1. Marketing Plans and Objectives: If your business has come up with an innovative way to reach its customers, the last thing you want is to find that one of your competitors has gotten to them first.
    2. Operating Expenses: This is a big one. If your competitors know how you are spending your money, they can beat you to the punch when it comes to marketing, vendors, and suppliers. And of course, the last thing you want any of your competitors to know is your business’ salary structure.
    3. Pricing Information and Structure: Again, you can just imagine the advantage you would give up to your competition if they somehow obtained information on how you currently price, or plan on pricing, your goods and services. Keep your margin your business.
    4. Sales goals and strategies: If your competitors know how you are going to attack them, they have already won the game. Keep that information safe by putting it in the shredder yourself. Also check copiers and the surrounding areas periodically for any documents that shouldn’t be seen outside your chosen circle.
    5. Patent and Trademark Information: This includes forms that have been filled out and not filed yet, any patent and trademark search request forms, patent disputes, studies and patent pending documentation. It should do without saying how important it is to keep this information within the castle walls.
    6. Prototype Documentation: Innovation is almost always a key to success, and keeping your drawings, plans and other documents safe is of utmost importance.
    7. Engineering Specifications: The way your product is made is nobody’s business but yours.
    8. Expired Contracts with Customers And Vendors: Once they are no longer in effect, expired contracts should be destroyed. These contracts often contain valuable sensitive information that you wouldn’t want to end up in the wrong hands.
    9. Research and Testing Documentation: This goes for marketing, products and manufacturing. Why put your hard work at risk of being used by someone else? Competitive research, test results and other important information needs to be guarded closely so that it doesn’t get used against you.
    10. Legal Claims: There is no question that you, and only you, want to be in control of the details regarding any claims or settlements you have had to make. If your competitors get hold of that kind of information, there is no telling what kind of damage they could cause.