Protecting information is not an option - it's the law.

Find out what you need to know.

Strict disposal laws and regulations affect your organization and how you discard sensitive information.

Privacy laws such as FACTA (credit report information), HIPAA (healthcare) and Gramm-Leach-Bliley (financial) all require the destruction of information before it is discarded. Failure to comply can result in stiff fines and penalties, and when large numbers of consumers are affected, massive awards in class action law suits.

The Economic Espionage Act (making the theft of trade secrets a criminal offense) does not protect companies that fail to take reasonable steps to protect their information. The courts have demonstrated many times that they will not recognize trade information protections if a company doesn’t take every step to protect the information themselves. Whether it concerns customer information, employee information, or trade secrets, it is important to know the laws and what you must do to be in compliance.