Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, (HIPAA).

Under the HIPAA privacy regulations, health care providers must have agreements with "business associates" to address compliance with the HIPAA privacy standards. A business associate performs a function or activity for a health care provider, with use or access to "protected health information".
http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/hipaa/

Gramm Leach Bliley Act, (GLB).

The Federal Trade Commission has issued a final rule governing the safeguarding of customer records and information for the financial sector. The GLB privacy objectives are to ensure the security and confidentiality of customer records and information; protect against any anticipated threats or hazards to the security or integrity of such records; and protect against unauthorized access to, or use of, such records or information that could result in substantial harm to any customer.
http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2002/05/safeguardrule.htm

Fair and Accurate Credit Transaction Act, (FACTA).

The FACT Act was signed into law on December 4, 2003. This Act contains a number of provisions intended to combat consumer fraud and related crimes, including Identity Theft, and to assist its victims.
Section 216 of the Fact Act requires the Commission, Federal banking agencies, National Credit Union Administration, Securities and Exchange Commission, to issue regulations requiring "any person that maintains or otherwise possesses consumer information, or any compilation of consumer information, derived from consumer reports for a business purpose to properly dispose of any such information or compilation." The purpose of this section is to prevent unauthorized disclosure of consumer information and to reduce the risk of fraud or related crimes, including identity theft, by ensuring that records containing sensitive financial or personal information are appropriately redacted or destroyed before being discarded.
If you are uncertain about any of these laws and how they pertain to you or your business and don't know what to do, our only advice for you is shred it and ease your mind.

Protecting Your Personal Information

Neither businesses nor individuals can be too careful. Documents revealing bank account, credit card or social security numbers can be used to defraud, leaving the business or individual with enormous bills, empty bank account and damaged credit.
Scams such as Identity Theft and Phishing have become increasingly more prevalent. Protecting your personal information is a crucial matter and there are many ways the unscrupulous can gain access to such information. The threat is real, the government estimates 750,000 people are victimized by these crimes each year.
Identity Theft: Involves the use of your personal information. Such as your name, social security number, credit card or back account number. An unscrupulous person will use this information to consume your identity to commit a fraudulent act or other crimes.
Phishing: Involves the use of Internet Websites and pop-up messages to mislead a consumer to disclose personal information. Such as the same information with Identity Theft.

Protect your assets and good name.

• Do not leave bill payment envelopes in your mailbox with the flag up. This is one of the simplest ways to obtain your identity. Deposit your monthly bills at your local post office.
• Pay attention to your billing cycles and statements. Inquire about bills you do not receive. It may mean that the bill has been diverted by an identity thief.
• Report lost or stolen checks immediately.
• Do not give personal information over the telephone, through the mail, or the internet unless you initiated the contact and know whom you are dealing with.
• Annually contact the major credit reporting companies to review your file and make certain the information is correct.

For additional information on identity theft and phishing go to the Federal Traded Commission's website at www.ftc.gov and look for these brochures