The Texas Information Disposal Act (IDA)
What is IDA?
The Texas Information Disposal Act (IDA) protects Texas residents from misuse of their personal information. The Act amends the Texas Business and Commerce Code, adding document retention and disposal requirements, and outlining how business records are to be disposed of or destroyed. Under section 698(3)(e) of the IDA, compliance can be achieved by contracting with a person or organization engaged in the business of disposing of records.
IDA also outlines the penalties that may be levied against organizations found to be non-compliant with document disposal requirements.
Who is affected by IDA?
The Act applies to all businesses operating in Texas that collect personal identifying information, either from employees or consumers. The Act is intended to ensure the secure destruction of business documents containing information that could be used to commit identity theft, including:
- Social security numbers and other government-issued identification numbers
- Bank account numbers
- Birthdates
- E-Mail addresses
According to the Act, when a business intends to dispose of business records containing personal identifying information, it must “mollify, by shredding, erasing or other means, the personal identifying information to make it unreadable or undecipherable.”
A business that does not comply with the Act is liable for civil penalties for each record that is not appropriately disposed of. The Texas Attorney General is also empowered to bring action against the business to obtain injunctive relief, legal costs, and other damages.
Your Partner in Regulatory Compliance
By purging outdated files or placing one of our locked security consoles in your office, PROSHRED® can assist your company in maintaining a document destruction program that meets IDA regulations. Using state-of-the-art technology, our highly trained and certified security professionals efficiently shred all documents right on your premises. We give you the option to watch the shredding process, and also provide you with a Certificate of Destruction that records each shred. Trust PROSHRED® as your partner in compliance for maintaining your document security program.
For more information on the Texas Information Disposal Act, please visit: Texas Legislature Online
For information about our Texas shredding services, contact our local offices in Dallas & Houston.
What Are People Saying About Proshred®
Today, Tuesday, 1/10/23, at 2:00 PM, I went to Pro Shred located in Elmsford to drop off two bags of papers. I was not aware that they did not accept cash or Apple Pay.
I am a first time customer, so I did not know the payment method. Met with Lamont, who explained they did not accept cash, however, he did look into the Apple Pay. This is when I met with Steven, who, like Lamont, spoke in a friendly and professional manner. Steven explained an alternative way, which I’d gladly accepted. Overall, the friendly and professional service I received from Steven in Lamont was exceptional. Thank you very much!
I was very pleased to know that they were NOT Dallas Cowboy fans!
Go Giants!
Jay Romano
When contract a job I am very specific about wanting to be charged what I am quoted. Usually I can't even get past the quoting when other companies start saying they will do it by box and then start talking about bin size on the phone. Pro Shed and Tara who quoted the job, did not play any games with me. They quoted a box price and then honored the box price. Not only was Tara grear, but when the guys showed up to do the shredding, they were professional, friendly, confident, and hard-working. Everything went as planned straight through the payment. I would refer anyone to this company at any time, because I feel comfortable that they did a good job for me and would do a good job forgrade,
I needed a little more shredding done, a very small job, just a little residual from the big job at a later date, and they are handling that great as well. I spoke to the manager today about them coming out on Monday for the residual and told him how pleased I was with the service. Unfortunately I can't remember his name but he was so professional as well and I'm so glad that I deal with this company. Don't use anyone else use a class act. ProShred gets 5 starts in all categories.
I have limited need for shredding services--every year or two, I need to shred some old credit card slips and bank statements and such. It is always very easy to load 8-10 boxes of stuff in the back of my station wagon, drive it over to ProShred and then unload it into a bin, pay the fee and I'm on my way. Easy peasy. The staff is aways friendly and cheerful; they will do my shredding for the foreseeable future.