The Consequences:
Potential Personal & Corporate liabilities for loss of NPI (non-public information) due to existing Federal Legislation are steep and include:
FACTA, The Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act:
- Fines up to $2,500 per occurrence
- Civil liability of $1,000 per occurrence
- Class action lawsuits with no statutory limitation
- Responsibility for actual losses of the individual victim (avg. $92,893)
HIPAA Security Rule (applies to any organization or individual who retains or collects health information)
- Fines up to $250,000 per occurrence
- Up to 10 years of jail time for executives
Gramm, Leach Bliley Safeguard Rule (which applies to an organization that maintains financial information regarding its clients or customers – including schools, brokers, insurance companies, car dealers, accountants, real estate agents, as well as banking and lending institutions)
- Fines up to $1,000,000 per occurrence
- Up to 10 years of jail time for executives
- Removal of executive and HR management
- Executives within an organization can be held accountable for non-compliance, both civilly and criminally
The Hidden Corporate Cost of ID Theft and data mishandling:
- Significant loss of productivity from employee/victim of ID theft
- Average of 1,600 work hours lost per incident, if there is a company data breach
- Bad PR and loss of customer base/income
- Cost of replacing employees who are absent to resolve the mess resulting from being an ID theft victim
- Costly stress-related mistakes as well as stress-related illnesses among employee victims and their co-workers
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What You Can Do About It
- Appoint an Information Security Officer
- Have a written policy to protect NPI
- Offer mandatory training
- Monitor all vendors with access to this information to
see if they are compliant (e.g., insurance brokers, etc.)
- Offer a voluntary legal program
A Turnkey Solution!
Call Corporate Synergies at 1-866-CSG-1719 and find out how we can protect you, your company and your employees. Corporate Synergies can help you better understand your responsibilities, liabilities and remedies for NPI security. Click HERE to contact us immediately with your questions.
Additional Resources:
We encourage business owners to check out the above information with their own attorneys, and/or to order the Federal Trade Commission’s free report: “Take Charge: Fighting Back Against Identity Theft.”
Phone: 877 – IDTHEFT
Web:
http://www.consumer.gov/idtheft
http://www.ftc.gov/os/2004/11/041118disposalfrn.pdf (re FACTA)
http://www.hipaa.org (HIPAA)
http://www.ftc.gov/os/2002/05/67fr36585.pdf (re Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act)
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