Protect Electronic Media including Tape, CD's and DVD's which Contains Private Personal Information

Electronic Media protection is mandtated by various laws. In general, these laws were passed to protect the privacy of patient records, financial record and personal records that exist in the form of Tapes, CD's, DVD's and Hard Disk Drives. The increase in Identity Theft crime has caused the enactment of many of these laws. Various states have also enacted laws, starting with the states of Texas, California, Wisconsin and Georgia. The most famous of the laws is HIPAA, enacted to protect the privacy of patient information.

HIPAA

Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), was enacted in 1996 and includes provisions intended to safeguard the privacy of patient health records. (printed or on electronic media) HIPAA is a significant piece of legislation with onerous penalties. For a full text of the SUMMARY OF THE HIPAA PRIVACY RULE from the Department of Human Services, available online go to: http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacysummary.rtf. See page 16 of this document in regards to specifically "securing records under lock and key.…and limiting access…..". This law includes the protection of Tape and Disk electronic media.

Data Safeguards. A covered entity must maintain reasonable and appropriate administrative, technical, and physical safeguards to prevent intentional or unintentional use or disclosure of protected health information in violation of the Privacy Rule and to limit its incidental use and disclosure pursuant to otherwise permitted or required use or disclosure. For example, such safeguards might include keeping electronic media under llock and key when not in use. During use, the records should be secure by limiting access to them via pass codes, etc.

GLB (Gramm Leach Bliley)

Gramm Leach Bliley (GLB) is another federal law with a much broader scope than HIPAA. The broad standards outlined in this law were designed to compel financial institutions to "respect the privacy of its customers and to protect the security and confidentiality of those customers' non-public personal information." Specifically, this law requires protection against "unauthorized access to or use of such (electronic or print) records or information which could result in substantial harm or inconvenience to any customer."

FACTA

The Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003 also known as the FACT Act was signed into law on December 4, 2003. In general, the Act amends the Fair Credit Reporting Act (``FCRA''). The Act contains a number of provisions intended to combat consumer fraud and related crimes, including identity theft, and to assist its victims.