The US has laws and regulations that address how businesses must destroy or erase personal data, that is no longer needed or in use, in a secure manner. Failing to comply with these regulations can damage your company’s reputation and result in costly penalties as well as other negative legal ramifications.
Secure Document Shredding and the Law
In Texas, we have The Texas Information Disposal Act (IDA), which protects Texas residents from misuse of their personal information. The IDA amends the Texas Business and Commerce Code, adding document retention and disposal requirements. The IDA outlines how business records are to be disposed of or destroyed. This usually includes information, such as a name, address, tax information, Social Security number or other data that can be used to identify an individual person.
To comply with the IDA, you should use a secure and trusted document shredding provider. Whether it’s your client’s files and information, old finance records, HR documents, or your organization’s sensitive data, ensure IDA compliance by contracting with a person or organization engaged in the business of disposing of records. RW Lone Star Security are the local choice for Paper Shredding in Austin.
The IDA effects ALL businesses in Texas that collect any information of employees or consumers that could be deemed personal or information found to be of an identifying manner.
It is important that businesses keep in compliance with both state and federal privacy regulations, but a recent study found some shocking facts:
- Over 70% of IT workers that were polled stated that they were aware of incidents in which sensitive data and confidential documents were either lost, misplaced, or discarded outside of privacy protection guidelines.
- Just over half of the companies polled (55%) actually train their employees how to properly dispose of sensitive documents to comply with IDA and privacy protection guidelines.
Any business or organization that operates in Texas that possesses personal information of Texas residents must take reasonable measures to protect against unauthorized access to or use of the information in connection with or after its disposal. This includes implementing and monitoring compliance with policies and procedures that require the destruction of papers containing personal information.
Don’t take a chance and leave your customers sensitive data unprotected! A business that does not comply with the Texas IDA is liable for civil penalties for each record that is not appropriately disposed of. Contact RW Lone Star today and we can help you setup an affordable solution to properly and securely dispose of your sensitive data and documents. Try us today and find out why we are the top choice in Central Texas for Austin Document Destruction, Paper Shredding in Temple, TX, as well as Paper Shredding in San Antonio, TX.
