Get the Facts About FACTA for Your Business

For a business to succeed and earn the respect of the community, it should abide by all applicable laws and a strong code of ethics. Word of mouth is the most powerful marketing tool around, and if the word about your company is not good, be warned that clients and customers will take that to heart. In turn, they will take their business, and money, elsewhere. Therefore, it is important to make certain everything in the workplace is done on the level, and that you do your best to reduce opportunity for white collar crimes such as identity theft. This is where FACTA comes into play.

What is FACTA?

FACTA, or the FACT Act, is the Fair and Accurate Credit Transaction Act, signed into Federal law in 2003 for the purpose of cracking down on consumer fraud and identity theft. As such crimes have risen over the last decade, largely a product of Internet fraud and "phishing" scams where people are tricked into handing over sensitive information, FACTA serves to assist businesses with the proper means of protecting clients and employees.

The main things to know about FACTA are:

• Consumer information used by businesses must not only be discarded, but completely destroyed
• FACTA guidelines must be followed by all persons and businesspeople in the United States, regardless of the size of your company and the nature of your work
• Failure to heed to FACTA regulations can result in heavy fines

Observing FACTA Regulations

When the time comes to destroy sensitive information such as customer identity, payroll records, and financial records, "reasonable measures" - as defined in the FACTA Disposal Rule decreed by the Federal Trade Commission - must be taken to ensure security. Perhaps the best way to see to office document destruction is to employ the services of a NAID (National Association for Information Destruction) certified professional to shred paperwork to the point where the information is illegible. When you are ready to rid your workplace of excess paper, consult the available shredding companies near you to confirm if any are aligned with NAID.

As you become more aware of Federal laws designed to protect your business and clients, be prepared to do what you can to provide a safe environment for everyone involved, and success for your business.

Kathryn Lively is a freelance writer specializing in articles on Virginia Beach shredding companies and Richmond condo rentals.