FTC - Federal Trade Commission and Paper Shredders

On September 26, 1914, President Woodrow Wilson signed the FTC Act into law.  The predecessor of the Federal Trade Commission, the Bureau of Corporations was established by President Theodore Roosevelt in February 1903.  Since this time, the FTC has grown to handle many different facets of trade including consumer protection.  A part of this consumer protection is protecting individuals from identity theft and fraud.  On June 1, 2005 the Federal Trade Commission enacted the Disposal Rule which calls for the proper disposal of private health information.  This rule is a part of the previously enacted Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003 also known as FACTA.  The Disposal Rule recommends that all consumer information be destroyed before it thrown away, which has spurred the growth of the business and home paper shredder industry.

The FTC furthermore cites statistics concerning the theft of private information and handles calls concerning these cases of identity theft and fraud.  The statistics are quite alarming and lend further credence to the need for a quality home paper shredder for personal use, and heavy duty paper shredders for corporate business environments.  For more information on these statistics and the regulations, please go to FTC.gov