PROTECT YOUR CUSTOMERS
PROTECT YOUR BUSINESS
IT'S THE LAW!
Protect not just your identity, but your clients’ as well.
Ever wonder what the laws say?
As part of our service, we help our customers stay up to date on all the laws that affect their industries.
Here are a few summaries of the laws we keep track of:
Health Information Portability & Accountability Act (HIPAA)
HIPAA was enacted in 1996, with mandatory compliance by April 2003. This act required the Department of Health and Human Services to establish national standards for electronic healthcare transactions and national identifiers for providers, health plans, and employers. It also addresses the security and privacy of Patient Health Information (PHI). Specifically, it requires healthcare providers to destroy PHI before throwing it away. Click here for the pertinent text.
Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (Financial Services Modernization Act of 1999)
Created for the financial services industry, this law mandated broad rights for consumers. In terms of shredding, it stated that financial services firms need to destroy consumer information before discarding it and created penalties for violations. Click here for more information.
U.S. Supreme Court Ruling (California v. Greenwood – 1988)
In this landmark case, the Supreme Court ruled that trash is not private. The Court ruled “it is common knowledge that plastic garbage bags left along a public street are readily accessible to animals, children, scavengers, snoops, and other members of the public.” Click here for a review of the case.
Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACTA)
FACTA is a subset of the Fair Credit Reporting Act. On June 1, 2005, FACTA’s section 216 required any business or person who possesses consumer information to destroy the information before discarding it. Click here for our FAQ about the act.
Security
If you don’t protect your company’s data and intelligence like trade information, the courts won’t either. Casual disposal of information has been the basis for courts to deny trade information rights, which otherwise would have been enforceable.
Tri-State Shred offers summaries of HIPAA, the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, the Privacy Act of 1974, California v. Greenwood, FACTA, California Civil Code Section 1798.80-1798.84, and other legislation that affects business.
