FACTA and Shredding: What You Should Know

The Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACTA) provides protections for consumer data. It puts controls in place. It’s determined by how companies use and dispose of their client’s confidential information.

Thus, the law is meant to help prevent identity theft, fraud, and other threats. In reality, these issues compromise data. FACTA has three main goals. They are consumer protection, security and privacy, and credit reporting.

WHAT ARE A COMPANY’S OBLIGATIONS UNDER FACTA?

FACTA requires companies to meet the following obligations:

Red flag rules specify that all financial institutions and creditors have a documented Identity Theft Protection program in place. This, in turn, safeguards data against potential security threats.

These identity theft programs must be able to do several things. They have to recognize patterns indicating potential security concerns. Also, they need to immediately identify red flags.

Plus, they must appropriately respond once red flags are detected. Finally, they are to perform necessary updates to the program as data security threats continue to evolve.

WHAT TYPES OF DATA CAN CONSUMERS ACCESS UNDER FACTA?

FACTA permits consumers to obtain one free credit report each year. These are available from any one of the three major credit reporting agencies.

Actually, this empowers consumers to be knowledgeable about their personal information. That’s because it relates to their credit history. This, in turn, helps them make more informed decisions.

Additionally, FACTA allows consumers to turn on alerts within the different crediting systems. Thus, the alerts notify individuals if there are any changes in their credit reports. This allows them to catch fraudulent activity early on.

Company data breaches are a common occurrence. Yet, these monitoring capabilities allow customers to maintain better control of their data. This is done instead of depending solely on companies informing them of potential security threats.

Finally, an important aspect of FACTA is that it ensures both creditors and financial institutions dispose of sensitive consumer data. It must be done in a safe, secure manner.

These organizations are required to take reasonable measures to complete proper document destruction. This applies to any records containing private consumer data.

While not required, companies should partner with a commercial shredding partner. They perform professional document shredding. That, in turn, helps protect private data from becoming compromised.

WHAT HAPPENS IF A COMPANY DOES NOT COMPLY WITH FACTA?

Let’s say a company experiences a data breach. Additionally, they failed to meet the requirements outlined by FACTA. Thus, it is likely they become subject to class action lawsuits. They will have to provide remedies for any damages.

FACTA states companies could be fined up to $1000 for each violation. That’s even the case if the identity theft didn’t result in damages to the consumer.

HOW CAN YOU FIND A FACTA COMPLIANT FLORIDA DOCUMENT SHREDDING COMPANY?

In fact, properly disposing of expired private data is important for protecting consumers and your company reputation.

ShredQuick will professionally and securely destroy both your paper and electronic records. Also, we offer mobile shredding to conveniently service your business without disrupting your operations.

We provide onsite, secure document destruction services to clients in Brandon, FL.  We’re your Spring Hill, FL shredding company.