What Should We shred?
1. Documents that are mandated by law:
FACTA - Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act: The Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003, also known as the FACT Act, was signed into law on December 4, 2003. The Act contains a number of provisions intended to combat identity theft and consumer fraud and related crimes. The act requires the destruction of papers containing consumer information. This law binds virtually every business or organization.
HIPPA - Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act: Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (revised by Congress in 2000) is a federal law that governs the handling of confidential medical and personal information and records. Civil and Criminal penalties, as well as fines, may result from the inadvertent disclosure of personal information. All company's that handle medical and personal information must be in compliance with the federal standards by April of 2003.
Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLB) - Financial: Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act of 1999, which went into effect in July of 2002, governs the handling of all personal information. Much broader in scope than HIPPA, this law was designed to compel financial institutions to "respect the privacy of its customers" and mandates that all financial institutions establish procedures for protecting personal information, including the protection of discarded information.
Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002: Also known as the Public Company Accounting Reform and Investor Protection Act of 2002. Among the Sarbanes-Oxley Act’s major provisions in one that includes a requirement those public companies evaluate and disclose the effectiveness of their internal controls. It is generally this requirement that gives attention to the need for companies to have detailed information control systems – including secure disposal of obsolete business records.
Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA): Improper disposal of student records may constitute an unauthorized disclosure under FERPA.
2. Documents that contain that confidential information:
· Customer Information
· Employee Information
· Proposals, quotes, pricing files
· Financial reports
· Marketing data
· Old tax records
· Outdated records
