Four crucial laws that that ensure regulatory compliance for St. Petersburg businesses

With the ever-increasing options St. Petersburg companies have for storing confidential data come more ways dishonest parties can steal it. Especially since digital data storage became the norm in the 1990s, government agencies have taken aggressive steps to ensure businesses keep sensitive data safe from outside access.

All these measures address the timely destruction of outdated customer or client information. They issue compliance guidelines that businesses and institutions must follow to keep current and protect privacy.

Here are four of the most familiar pieces of legislation that cover information security and how they relate to data destruction:

Fair & Accurate Transaction Act (FACTA)

Passed by Congress in 2003, FACTA establishes standards for the protection of private data, focusing on the risk of identity theft. FACTA stipulates that companies use “reasonable disposal methods” to get rid of private data, including the proper destruction of paper materials so they can’t be reconstructed and re-read. It also covers the erasure and demolition of digital data and sets forth regulations to ensure compliance such as independent audits and certification.

Health Insurance Portability & Accountability Act (HIPAA)

HIPAA was created by Congress in 1996 to ensure the privacy of medical insurance holders. In addition to regulating the sharing of confidential patient data, HIPAA requires healthcare providers to maintain a regular shredding schedule of outdated documentation that contains patients’ Social Security numbers, names, addresses, and birthdates. HIPAA also mandates the destruction or deletion of photographs, x-ray images, prescription bottles, voicemails, and other physical and digital items addressing individual care.

Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX)

Enacted partially in response to the Enron scandal of the early 2000s, the SOX Act of 2002 protects investors from corporations making fraudulent or false financial reporting. The SOX Act stresses that publicly held companies be transparent about internal controls and policies, specifically how long companies can keep old business records on file and how they effectively destroy them. Its goal is to prevent outside agents from using disposed privileged information to set up illegal enterprises. The SOX Act specifically mentions digital hard drive and tape shredding as essential steps in the data destruction process.

Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI-DSS)

The PCI-DSS concerns the data of credit card customers. To maintain PCI-DSS compliance, a business must outline a detailed strategy for the storage and disposal of customer records. The 1999 act covers exact aspects of data destruction, including the maximum size of shredded particles and minimum security levels for each disposal.

Help for keeping St. Petersburg businesses compliant and legal

ShredQuick knows all these privacy laws — and many others — from back to front. We’ll help your St. Petersburg business stay ahead of the curve with our comprehensive data destruction service. Call us to find out more.