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Privacy laws apply to every business!
Businesses should know about the
FACTA, HIPAA and GLB Disposal rules:
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Severe Penalties await Violators
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Destruction of Consumer Information is required by Federal Law before it is Discarded
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This Applies to Virtually Every Business and Person in the United States.
Our highly trained Document Security Specialists can provide
detailed information about exactly which privacy laws apply to your business!
FACTA
What Is FACTA? FACTA is the
Fair and Accurate Credit Transaction Act of 2003 (FACTA), is a NEW FEDERAL LAW.
It is designed to reduce the risk of Consumer Fraud and Identity Theft, created
by improper disposal of consumer information. FACTA will help educate and
protect Businesses and Consumers. For example, consumers will have the right to
one free credit report annually from the national repositories and national
specialty credit reporting agencies. President Bush signed the FACTA Law On
December 4, 2003. This legislation contains significant amendments to the Fair
Credit Reporting Act on a broad scope of topics and issues. For a initial
analysis of FACTA and the many changes it makes to the Fair Credit Reporting Act
(FCRA) go online to the National Consumer Law Center at
http://www.consumerlaw.org/issues/facta/nclc_analysis.shtml
Did you know the FACTA Law requires you dispose of records properly or pay State
and Federal fines of $1000.00 – $2500.00 per record.
HIPAA
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 was
designed
to protect patients' confidential information. Patient information maintained
by healthcare providers, healthcare institutions and health insurance
companies is regulated by this Act. Visit http://www.cms.hhs.gov/HIPAAGenInfo/
for more information.
Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act
The Financial Modernization Act of 1999, or Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLB) set
guidlines for the handling of financial information held by financial
institutions. This act likely affects your business if you handle customers
financial information. For more details visit
http://www.ftc.gov/privacy/privacyinitiatives/glbact.html
Privacy Act of 1974
This Privacy Act protects the privacy of records maintained by the federal government. For
additional information visit the Federal Trade Commission's site at
http://www.ftc.gov/foia/privacy_act.shtm
| The Resource Conservation and
Recovery Act (RCRA)
This law creates the framework for the proper management of hazardous
and non-hazardous solid waste. For additional information visit the
Environmental Protection Agency website at
http://www.epa.gov/epaoswer/osw/laws-reg.htm |
The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) (20 U.S.C. § 1232g; 34 CFR Part 99) is a Federal law that protects the privacy of student education records. The law applies to all schools that receive funds under an applicable program of the U.S. Department of Education. For more information visit
http://www.ed.gov/policy/gen/guid/fpco/ferpa/index.html
The Supreme Court
has ruled that information in your trash is "fair game" to anyone. The current
law in the United States (federal as well as state law) is that:
a person has no reasonable expectation of privacy for contents of garbage; and
a person has relinquished any property interest in garbage, even when it sits in
metal
trash cans or opaque plastic bags at the person's home awaiting collection.
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