3 Shredding Laws Every Business Owner Needs To Know

All businesses must follow certain federal laws in shredding documents and digital media to reduce the risk of identity theft of customers, clients, patients, and employees.

While shredding doesn’t prevent all identity theft or theft of documents, it greatly reduces the risk – and reduces the risk of your business getting slapped with a hefty fine.

Three acts help businesses reduce the risk of unsavory characters from getting their customer and employee information.

HIPAA Laws in Shredding

One of the major laws that companies, including those that provide shredding services, must abide by is HIPAA.

This federal act was enacted in 1996 to help provide data privacy and additional security provisions, especially since it was about that time that more businesses started storing consumer records online.

The five sections of HIPAA include the privacy rule, the transaction and code sets rule, the security rule, the unique identifiers rule, and the enforcement rule. In a nutshell, the privacy rules protect personal health information.

The transaction and code sets rule dictates how electronic transactions happen. The security rule details security protocols for electronic health records.

The fourth rule deals with a unique identification number for health care providers. Finally, the compliance rule dictates hearing procedures and violation penalties.

FACTA Legal Requirements for Shredding Documents

A federal law, the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003, helps keep credit-related records of consumers more accurate. Thanks to this federal law, you can check your credit report for free once per year.

You can also purchase your credit score for a minimal fee. If your credit isn’t up to par and you apply for a loan or a mortgage, the entity you apply with must provide risk-based pricing notices and your credit scores to you.

Finally, the FACTA provides provisions to help mitigate identity theft, including allowing you to place fraud alerts on your credit file with all three of the major credit bureaus.

Just as lenders and credit reporting agencies must abide by these laws, businesses, and consumers who are protected under FACTA must abide by legal requirements for shredding documents and otherwise protecting personal information.

GLBA Document Shredding Laws and Regulations

The Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act is another set of document shredding laws and regulations. This Act was enacted in 1999 to govern financial institutions. The rules protect consumers from identity theft by dictating how financial institutions must handle personal consumer information.

Shred America Reviews

Shred America must know what laws govern document destruction because many of our customers are banks and medical facilities. We also have many individuals who shred their personal documents, which means that we also have to abide by these laws.

Some of our customers said:

• Great communication from setting up the appointment to the tech handling the shredding and pickup.

• Immediate response time for a bail bonds company. Professional service. Technician practiced safe distancing. Easy process.

• Well-priced, convenient, and easy. Friendly and helpful staff.

• Courteous and polite. Received a phone call about a half-hour before Shred America arrived. Professional explanation of process.

• Excellent service. Cost-effective. The shred bins a hit with employees since they have no shredder bags to clean up after and no more jammed shredders.

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Contact Shred America for Shredding Services

If you are a business or an individual in need of shredding personal and / or consumer documents, contact Shred America to discuss your needs today.