Here we have a
video from America about SECURITY ... Although this individual case, as
reported by the local news channel, may well result in a court case; it
begs the question of how secure our business documentation is ... and how
important it is to shred it!
DISPOSAL and RECYCLING COMPUTERS
All of
which are serious issues that ABLE IT Logistics Ltd can resolve easily
Fascinating Facts About Confidential Paper Shredding
Shredding Laws and Your Business
By Jeff McRitchie
It is no longer a matter of common courtesy for you and your business to
shred your customers' confidential information. The rise in identity theft
crimes has caused congress to act by passing three major pieces of
legislation that require businesses to completely destroy any documents
containing certain kinds of sensitive information before discarding. The
penalties and fines can be steep, ranging from £1000 to £500,000, not to
mention the risk of civil litigation and liability. The three pieces of
legislation are known as FACTA, HIPAA, and GLB. In this article we will
dive into each of these regulations, how you can best comply, and what the
risks of non-compliance are.
1. Fair and Accurate Credit Transaction Act. Also known as FACTA, This law
was signed into effect in 2003. FACTA was designed specifically to reduce
the growing risks of credit, identity, and consumer fraud, by requiring
businesses to properly destroy confidential information upon discarding
it. Not only applying to businesses, the disposal rule essentially applies
to every person in the UK. The information that must be discarded include:
address information, employment histories, credit histories, and social
security numbers. The penalties for non-compliance can be pretty steep.
Other than putting yourself at risk for a civil suit and the attending
legal costs, if it can be proven that your mishandling of sensitive info
resulted in an identity crime being committed, your local courts can fine
you £1000 per infraction, and the Police can nip you for £5000 per
incidence.
2. Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. Known as HIPAA,
this regulation applies to the health care industry, and is intended to
prevent abuses of personal health information, including unauthorized
access. The Institutions that are required to comply with the regulation
are called "Covered Entities," and include all organizations and even
individuals, who collect health-care related information. This can include
doctors, urgent care centres, hospitals, billing centres, and even
collection agencies. According to HIPAA, all covered entities must have
documented policies that define the measures they have instituted to
prevent unauthorized access. Non-compliance in this case could cost the
offender a whopping £500,000.
3. Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act. The GLB Act applies to financial institutions
and requires any companies that are engaged in financial activities go
provide secure handling of client records and information. Companies that
would be included in this are banks, mortgage companies, insurers, and
investment houses.
You may be surprised to hear that it is not against the law for someone to
go through your apparent disposed rubbish. A 1988 Supreme Court ruling
stated that once the rubbish is left for pickup, it is public domain. This
is an easy way for your business to lose its competitive edge, as well as
its customers' confidential information. With the ease and convenience
that is afforded by having your own shredders in house, there is no reason
for your business to put itself at risk. One quick and easy solution is
for all of your employees who handle and regularly discard confidential
information to have their own desk side shredders. Or you can place a
larger shredder in a central location in your office. Either way, you need
to make sure that you protect your business and your clients by shredding
all confidential information.
We are an electronics recycling company that
takes protecting the environment and your company's security seriously.
Our mission is to provide our customers with affordable alternatives to
landfill disposal, worry free data security, and reliable customer
service.
We follow a strict NO LANDFILL policy both internally and externally. We
value each and every customer as if they were our first. We have a formal
environmental management system, ensuring that we meet environmental
quality standards for all portions of our operation.
Able IT Logistics Limited is an insured, privately owned and operated
corporation that provides electronics recycling services to both
residential and commercial customers.
At Able IT Logistics we maintain strict environmental and social
standards.
We recycle
* Computers
* Monitors
* IT Equipment
* and all other electronic devices
We provide a UK coverage - and collect and
dispose of Computer Hardware (or any type of e-waste) to UK Standards,
providing certificates of authenticated disposal and recycling.
UK
COMPUTER DISPOSALS.co.uk
