June 1, 2005 the federal government required
businesses and individuals to dispose of sensitive information derived
from consumer reports. Example of businesses affected by this rule
include banks, car dealers, lenders, debt collects, insurance office,
consumer reporting companies, employers, property owners, government
agencies, mortgage brokers, attorneys, private investigators, and
individuals who pull consumer reports on prospective home employees,
such as nannies or contractors.
Under the privacy Rule, Title V requires institutions
to safeguard the security and confidentiality of customer non-public
information (account numbers, social security numbers, etc.) Since
November 12, 1999 financial institutions involved in lending, exchanging,
transferring, investing, safeguarding money or securities are required
to protect their customers' information through secure disposal. You
are considered a financial institution if you engage in check cashing,
wire transfer services, or sell money orders, if you broker loans,
service loans, collect debts or provide real estate settlement services.
You are accountable under Title V if your organization provides credit
counselors, financial planners, tax prepares, accountants, and investment
advising.
A Federal Law protecting the privacy of student
education records. The law applies to school is receiving funds under
applicable programs of the U>S> Department of Education. Any
record that contains personally identifiable information (social Security
numbers, student ID, transcripts, and grades) is an educational record
under FERPA. The law clearly states that the schools must choose a
suitable method of destruction when disposing of records.
This act required the Department of Health and
Human Services (HHS) to establish national standards for the security
of health care information. The final rule specifies a series of administrative,
technical, and physical security procedures for covered entities to
use to assure the confidentiality of protected health information.
According to HIPPA, discarded sensitive information shall be shredded
on a daily basis or stored in locked container for subsequent shredding.
This is also known as the Public Company Accounting
Reform and Investor Act of 2002 and commonly called SOX or Sarbox;
passed in response to a number of major corporate and accounting scandals
(Enron, Tyco International, Peregrine Systems and Worldcom). These
scandals resulted in a decline of public trust in accounting and reporting
practices of publicly traded companies. Because of the Act, the storage
time of documents has increased dramatically and many companies have
turned to electronic storage. It is imperative that scanned documents
be shred and not discarded into the trash.
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