Why Does FACTA Matter to Me?
As an employer, what you don't know about FACTA can definitely hurt you.
FACTA stands for Fair and Accurate Credit Transaction Act. FACTA is the law which allows any American access to their credit report once per year. The law went into effect Jan. 1, 2005. So what does that mean for you as an employer?
On June 1, 2005, a new provision of FACTA goes into effect. It says that any employer (even if you only employ one person, and you have their personal information so that you can pay social security taxes,) whose action or inaction results in the loss of employee information, can be fined by federal and state government, and sued in civil court.
A USA Today article on FACTA from Jan. 14. 2005, stated "Bet you didn't know that." But you need to know, and need to know what you can do to protect yourself.
Small Businesses affected the most
'"A small businessman who makes a mistake could bear the brunt of a regulation like this," says James Plummer, policy analyst at Consumer Alert, a non-profit group that focuses on a free-market approach to consumer regulations.'
The USA Today article goes on to say that "if you don't shred and information gets out, there are penalties." But what if you do shred all potential employee information, and take all necessary precautions to protect your past, current, and future employees' identities, and the information still gets out somehow? Under FACTA, you could still be held responsible.
You may not think information theft could happen to you, but neither did this short list of companies, universities, government institutions, and businesses that have had employee or customer information stolen from them:
DSW Shoe Warehouse
Lexis Nexis
University of Northern Colorado
California State University (Chico)
University of California - Berkeley
University of Maryland
Las Vegas Department of Motor Vehicles
Bank of America
Choice Point
Weld County (CO) Employees (information stolen by an inmate while in jail)
How can you, as an employer, minimize your liability?
There are hundreds of things you can do to minimize liability, which are probably things you already do. Document shredding, redaction of electronically stored information, careful screening of employees who will be coming into contact with personal information of customers and employees, physically locking file drawers with sensitive information, and setting up firewalls on computer equipment connected to the Internet, among hundreds of other solutions, are all good ideas. The old saying that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure is definitely the case when it comes to securing personal information. However, no matter what prevention steps you take, there is no 100% effective way to be sure that employee's information won't be compromised. Even if the information doesn't get out from your company, an employee can claim that it did.
That's a scary thought! What if an employee claims that their information was stolen through the actions of your company, but there's no real proof to back it up? You will end up hiring (or using) an attorney to represent and defend your company in court. At $150 - $200/hour for most attorneys across the United States, how long can you afford to defend your company?
So what can you do?
The only sure solution, or at least the only solution that would at least provide an affirmative defense against the fines, fees, and lawsuits you could incur as an employer, is to offer some sort of Identity Theft protection as a benefit to your employees.
As an employer, you can choose whether or not to pay for this added benefit. However, the most important thing you can do is to make the protection available, and have a mandatory employee meeting, similar to what you probably already do for health insurance, to help employees understand Identity Theft and the protection that you are making available to them. When you make the protection available, and when your employees have been educated on the dangers of Identity Theft, they can either elect to have identity theft coverage as a benefit, or they can decline the coverage as a benefit.
If the employee has Identity Theft coverage and becomes a victim, it is beneficial to your business, because an employee with Identity Theft coverage will spend less time, less money, and will experience less frustration while trying to have their information restored. This will get them back on the job and focused on work more quickly.
If the employee declines the coverage, and later claims that the information was stolen as a result of you or your company's actions, you have a piece of paper, with their signature, saying that they attended the presentation and declined the coverage.
Choosing to not make Identity Theft coverage available leaves you exposed to an unlimited dollar amount that you can be sued for under civil liability, federal fines of up to $2,500.00 per employee per incident, and state fines of up to $1,000.00 per employee per incident.
Recommended course of action? Have a benefits consultant who offers an Identity Theft protection plan present to your employees. Help them set up a 20 minute presentation with your employees, and make it mandatory that all employees attend. You want your employees to be protected from this awful crime. If they choose not to be, but you've given the option of being protected, then the liability becomes theirs, not yours, when they become a victim of identity theft.
Jonathan Kraft is a benefits consultant who specializes in educating people about how they can get affordable access to the legal system. Because of his work in the field of electronic Identity Theft, he has come to be known as Colorado's Foremost Expert on Computer Related Identity Theft. To schedule a time for Mr. Kraft to present Identity Theft and Legal Service protection to your employees, please contact him at (877) 825-7119. You can also find out more on the web at www.strive4impact.com/group
Jonathan Kraft specializes in educating people about how they can get affordable access to the legal system. He has come to be known as Colorado's Foremost Expert on Computer Related Identity Theft. To schedule a time for Mr. Kraft's company to present Identity Theft and Legal Service protection to your employees, please contact him at (877) 825-7119. You can also find out more on the web at www.strive4impact.com/group
|
- Thievery of Identity
Thieves that focus on taking other peoples identities are often the worse thieves there are in society. We have petty thieves, grand thieves, and other types of thieves, but identity thieves claim the...
- Identity Theft
LexisNexis, a provider of personal and financial data, recently reported that the personal information of as many as 310,000 people nationwide may have been stolen. This figure is nearly 10 times higher...
- Crime and Identity Theft
What is crime? Crime defined is an atrocity or enslavement, an act carried out by a single or group of individuals, targeting the population, or a set area to attack. When an identity thief gets hold of...
- How Identity Theft Can Happen To You
How Identity Theft Can Happen To YouIdentity Theft Can Happen To YouHow does it happen? Your personal information such as your social security number, banking account information, credit card numbers,...
- Credit Fraud Secrets Thieves Don't Want You To Know
Have you ever been a victim of credit card fraud? If so, you know just how traumatic it can be. Whats more, if you dont detected it early enough, it could leave bad marks on your credit report that could...
- Dealing with Identity Theft
When a person falls into the hands of an identity thieve, then ongoing mental help is needed, since the person will struggle throughout their lifetime to resolve the loss. Instead of being the victim throughout...
- New Form of Click Fraud Discovered
If you use PPC advertising and are in a highly competitive market, you cant afford not to read this. You already know that if youre adventurous enough to run your own pay-per-click advertising campaign--e.g.,...
- Social Security Fraud and its Antidotes
Every year, approximately 200 billion dollars is lost because of fraud. Social Security fraud made the stealing of billions of pounds from the public, stealing of money which can be allocated to the primary...
- Identity Theft Tips
Identity theft is an ongoing crime, that in the year of 2004 alone more than eleven million victims lost their identity. Now that we are in recession, the world is in chaos more so than ever and many people...
- Google sued over 'click fraud' in Adwords
On June 24, 2005, a lawsuit was filed against Google for alleged click fraud on the Adwords pay-per-click program. The Plaintiff, Click Defense, claims Google failed to enact appropriate measures to guard...
- Identity Theft Taking Over
Identity thieves are taking over millions of lives each year, and the studies are showing the law is making very little headway in stopping the crimes from occurring. Recently, studies have shown that...
- Finding Peace after Identity Theft
When a person fall victim of identity theft, rarely do they find peace thereafter. Victims of identity theft often struggle with paperwork, reports, credit reports, courts, police and the list goes on....
- Prevent Identity Theft
Preventing Identity TheftAlas, its not possible to prevent identity theft and credit fraud entirely. However, by managing your personal information carefully, and with a full understanding of its importance,...
- When to Fight Identity Theft
The time to fight Identity theft is now. If you are not a victim of identity theft, do not take any chances, since it is next to impossible if not impossible to restore your life once someone takes hold...
- Immediate Rules Identity Theft
Unfortunately, all of us are potential victims of identity theft. If you fall into the hands of identity theft, you will need to know the next steps to take to protect your self as much as possible. First,...
- Identity Theft Victims Persecuted
When a person becomes victim of identity theft the law, the thief, creditors and others often persecute them throughout the battle to restore their identity. Thus, in this article I am providing you legal...
- Identity Theft Crimes
The cost of identity theft crimes is ranging in the billions, since everyday someone is robbed of their identity. The FBI, Police Departments around the world, Government and other teams are joining to...
- Valuable Information for Identity Theft Victims
Identity theft is one of the biggest problems we are facing in society. Bankers, credit card lenders, law, and other sources are working to find a solution to the problems. At what time a person falls...
- Internet Privacy a Growing Concern
Lets face it, we look at stuff on the internet, in the privacy of our own homes that we would never look at in public. How often do you walk into your local bookstore and proudly by the latest Penthouse...
- ID Theft - Are You the Next Victim?
Identity theft is on the rise. One in ten of us have , or will be the victim of this crime. It is estimated that 500,000 to 700,000 Amercians become victims to indentity theft each year. You dont have...
- What is Workers' Compensation Fraud
What is FraudFraud occurs when a person knowingly or intentionally conceals, misrepresents, and makes a false statement to either deny or obtain workers compensation benefits or insurance coverage, or...
- The Criminal Mind and Identity Theft
After studying human behaviors, crimes, criminals, emotions, thoughts, and various other subjects and surviving many crimes, I feel it is important to understand the criminal mind to a degree when fighting...
- An Open Letter From a So-Called Stupid
Why Identity Theft makes us all dummies, and what you can do to stop being stupid...Someone recently told me, "You would have to be a stupid to lose your personal information." While I respectfully responded...
- Learning about Identity Theft
Learning about identity theft is one of the most important things you will do in your lifetime, since millions fall victim each year. If you have fallen victim of identity theft, the time to come to blows...
|
|
|
|
