Myth:
Outsourcing is more expensive than shredding ourselves.
Myth:
We do not have enough material to warrant a shredding service.
In today’s environment it is more important than ever to protect your company’s, employee’s and client’s information. The courts have ruled that once you place your material into a trashcan, recycling receptacle, or dumpster, you lose all privacy rights to that information, no matter how sensitive or proprietary it is – even if it’s is your trashcan. The laws on public domain protect the people taking the information – NOT YOU! You may even be held liable for negligence if the discarded material does harm to someone. SHRED with Greenway Shredding & Recycling FOR SAFETY! With the development of the Health Information Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA), and the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act of 1999 (GLBA), and The Fair and Accurate Credit Transaction Act of 2003 (FACTA) shredding of documents has become the recommended method for the handling of sensitive documentation.
The Law
Your Organization must comply with laws and regulations, requiring that it protect certain information when it is discarded.
An increasing number of laws actually require organizations to shred or face steep fines.
Your Customers
Whether your customers are consumers concerned about Identity Theft and Privacy, or companies concerned with protecting trade information, you are entrusted with information that they consider to be extremely confidential.
In fact, whether you know it or not, you have an “implied contract” to protect that information simply based on the fact that you are collecting the data to conduct business.
They have the legal right to expect you to take every precaution to protect it, including shredding it before it is discarded.
Your Public Image
Dumpster diving has become Investigative Journalism 101. With all the privacy compliance laws, it is the first place reporters look when trying to grab a quick headline.
Privacy is the newest consumer awareness issue. Confidential information in your dumpster is an easy source for sensational headlines – and of course, criminals.
Your Employees
Employees (past & present) have a legal right to have their personal information protected by shredding before it is discarded.
Insurance records, employment applications, time cards, health records, accident reports and attendance records are examples of information that legally must be protected.
Corporate Ethics
In this day and age, it is very important that your organization exhibits the highest ethical standards.
Casually discarding company information, whether in the form of an individual’s personal information, or company trade information, shows a disregard for customer and shareholder welfare. It exposes customers to the threat of identity theft and other fraud. It also risks your company losing its trade secret protections in court.
Trade Rights
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. Casual disposal of information have been the bases for courts to deny trade information rights, which otherwise would have been enforceable.
The US Supreme Court has ruled that you forfeit the right of ownership to discarded information.
You’re already familiar with HIPAA and why your patients’ protected health information must be kept private. But with the HITECH Act, authorities are increasing their enforcement of HIPAA and imposing expensive case-by-case penalties for willful neglect. It is crucial to be sure that the company you choose to shred your confidential medical information is secure – and helps you comply wit the latest legislation.
Regulatory authorities enforcing the HITECH Act are becoming more proactive. Fines and penalties have increase since 2009, and are expected to climb. Check our the examples and recent findings about patient privacy in the U.S.:
Think about it. If secure document destruction isn’t your current shredding provider’s core competency, your patients’ information is at risk.
HIPAA: http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/hipaa/understanding/index.html