You might have never considered the idea of using a professional document shredding service before. One thing to keep in mind however, is that professional document destruction services actually help keep your Albany business or operation in check with the law. In the United States there is much legislation involving the destruction and disposal of key documents; all making a point of ensuring their proper destruction and disposal. If you run and operate a business, have any employees, or sell product, the chances are very high that at least one of these bills affects you.

The main goal behind destruction and disposal clauses in federal and state laws is to protect vulnerable parties from information breach. They seek to target and slow down instances of criminal activity including identity theft, fraud and information breach. As a member of NAID, PROSHRED Albany knows that certain precautions and processes need to take place in order to reduce these likelihoods. Our NAID membership means that we have a commitment to not only keep our customers’ data safe, but also to work with other members in the industry to make sure that confidential information stays confidential.

In the United States there is important legislation that businesses must be aware of. Two main pieces of legislation include the Fair & Accurate Transactions Act (FACTA), and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). If you have customers, the chances are very high that your business is affected by one or both of these bills.

FACTA

FACTA is a bill that affects businesses in all sorts of fields including (but not limited to) lenders, landlords, employers, automobile dealers and more. The bill was created and passed with the goal of preventing and punishing consumer fraud and identity theft practices. FACTA is made up of seven major sections, and in 2005 a new subsection known as the “Disposal Rule” was inserted into the bill. The Disposal Rule was designed to ensure that businesses properly dispose of sensitive customer information to prevent data breaches from occurring.

The FTC includes burning, pulverizing or shredding papers containing consumer report information as proper and suitable ways to dispose of consumer reports covered under the Disposal Rule. Digital media containing (present or past) sensitive information should be destroyed physically to ensure that recovery is impossible.

HIPAA

Healthcare operations are the most likely to be familiar with HIPAA, as it affects them the greatest. Similarly to FACTA, this law maintains clauses which influence how organizations should be destroying their sensitive information. HIPAA is comprised of many sections; however, it is section 2 where organizations should be paying attention to their disposal duties. It gives a very strict guideline on what healthcare businesses should be doing in order to maintain and respect the confidentiality of their patients.

HIPAA also gives guidelines and tools to healthcare businesses to check the integrity of their information management protocols and systems. It also offers tools and resources to help improve those systems.

PROSHRED Knows What’s What

As a leading member of NAID, PROSHRED in Albany is obligated to be fully familiar with both legislations, among others, and to ensure that all of our operations fall within spec of these bills. If your business is questioning its adherence regarding document destruction, don’t hesitate to contact PROSHRED today to discuss solutions.

The costs of failing to adhere far outweigh the costs of our services. Contact us today! 1-518-512-0321

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