It is commonly known that businesses are the target of criminals. Stolen business documents can be used to commit fraud and identity theft. This could potentially expose businesses to costly litigation and fees associated with recovering from fraud. Government agencies are fully aware of the threat to businesses and has adopted document handling and processing standards for specific types of businesses.
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, which many know as HIPAA, has specific guidelines regarding the handling of patient electronic and paper medical records. Disposing of paper based medical records must be performed in such a way that protects the patient's privacy. This has driven many medical organization to upgrade to compliant commercial paper shredders or to outsource the services to a compliant company.
Businesses which offer credit to other businesses or individuals also must maintain privacy standards for those seeking credit. The Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act, which is known as FACTA, outlines specific rules which govern the disposal of paper products. Such laws have been deemed necessary to safeguard those seeking credit and to restrict the potential exposure of the personal information provided with a credit application. In many cases, a credit application contains all of the information needed for a criminal to commit identity theft. Therefore, many businesses have upgraded to a commercial paper shredder to address compliance requirements with this law.
The Gramm–Leach–Bliley Act (GLB), which many know as the Financial Services Modernization Act of 1999, also impacts the document handling and destruction processes of many companies. This law specifically targets businesses in the insurance and investment industries, and restricts how they handle documents. In many cases businesses have found compliance with these laws by enhancing their document handling processes to include the use of an industrial strength commercial paper shredder.
Although disposing of documents properly can often save businesses from costly litigation and embarrassment, Federal laws have been constructed to address the modern day security threats of identity theft. In addition to Federal laws, State laws are also on the books which dictate how documents which contain personal information must be disposed of. The financial impact for not abiding by these laws can be costly and in most cases can be easily addressed by using a commercial paper shredder combined with an internal document processing procedure that all employees are required to follow.
Additional information on the various classes of commercial papers that exist is available on our detailed
paper shredder specifications page. Information on this page includes qualifications for DIN and NSA/CSS 02-01 approved commercial paper shredders.
