READY TO SHRED?

0 Comments | La Crosse Tribune, Feb 05, 2005 | by Schott, Kate

When files are no longer needed at the Hale Skemp Law firm in La Crosse, they are not just tossed into a trash can.

Instead, they are slid into a 95-gallon security bin provided by Confidential Document Services Inc. The locked lid makes retrieval near impossible. Office Manager Gina Pederson, said the company's liability insurance requires them to shred documents that have information such as names or Social Security numbers of their clients.

The bin is emptied about once a month by employees of the Westby-based Confidential Document Services. Once on premises, company president and owner Doug Breidel said all documents are destroyed in massive shredding machines. All employees have had criminal background checks and drug screenings, buildings have dual security systems and clients are provided certificates of destruction for each load that is destroyed.

Breidel said his business, which he started 12 years ago, has picked up since 2000.

"We weren't always locking our cars and locking our doors in rural Wisconsin," he said of his company's slow start. "It took longer to develop an understanding of the importance of shredding."

He said a state law passed in 2000 is one reason more companies started shredding. Known as the "Dumpster Diving" law, it required medical, financial and tax preparation businesses to dispose of documentation with personal information.

A federal law aimed at curbing consumer fraud and identity theft is adding another reason: A new provision of the Fair and Accurate Credit Transaction Act requires businesses to adopt and implement document destruction policies by June 1.

The new provision, called the FACT Act Disposal Rule, requires businesses and individuals to destroy "any record about an individual, whether in paper, electronic, or other form that is a consumer report (also known as a credit report) or is derived from a consumer report."

Any person or company that maintains consumer or personal information must take "reasonable measures to protect against unauthorized access to or use of the information in connection with its disposal." Included in the provision are those who might employ just a few people, such as a nanny or housekeeper.

Penalties include fines of up to $1,000 for statutory damages and civil penalties of up to $2,500; no cap has been set for class-action lawsuits.

The costs of identity theft are high. The Web site for the nonprofit Identity Theft Resource Center found about 7 million people were victims of identity theft during a 12-month study in 2002-03. It estimates identity theft victims spend an average of 600 hours recovering from the crime and can lose about $16,000 in potential income.

The effects of the crime can last for years. Difficulties can include increased insurance and credit card fees, inability to find a job and high interest rates.

Fear of becoming one of those statistics is why some local office supply store employees feel more people are purchasing shredders for their homes. Jean Twinde said she's seen an increase in the sale of personal shredders in the eight years she's worked at the Office Depot in Onalaska.

Shredders range from $25 for a basic machine up to $250 for professional equipment. Some are even strong enough to destroy CDs and staples.

"It's because of identity theft," she said. "People do not want their credit card information left out there. People want to get rid of it in a safe way."

Barry Stetter, sales associate at Rowley's Office Equipment Company Inc. in La Crosse, said a fair number of personal shredders are sold there, although he has not noticed a huge increase during the past several years.

"Most of the time, it's people who just have personal records at their home, whether it is old tax records or receipts that may have their credit card numbers or Social Security numbers, or information like that," he said. "They're just trying to be secure."

ON THE WEB

FAIR AND ACCURATE CREDIT TRANSACTION ACT: www.ftc.gov

IDENTITY THEFT RESOURCE CENTER: www.idtheftcenter.org/index.shtml

FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION IDENTITY THEFT INFORMATION: www.consumer.gov/idtheft

NATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR INFORMATION DESTRUCTION: www.naidonline.org/