I came across a great article regarding how identity theft regulations that are being implemented in Massachusetts is a bell weather for the rest of the country and the impact it will have on small business forced to implement new policies and procedures to comply with new laws that are coming. The spirit of the idea is sound as we all want to protect the personal information of our customers and employees, but new laws and regulations come with a price to implement and manage. Read the article and begin to plan as this will impact every business that has an employee, collects personal information or charges a credit card.
New MA Information Security Laws – How 201.CMR.17 Will It Effect Your Small Business?
Even though the implementation date of 201 CMR 17 has been pushed back to January 1, 2010, now is the time to begin planning. MGL93H or 201CMR17 have not been widely publicized despite originally being scheduled to go into effect on January 1, 2009 and many small business owners that I talk to each day in Massachusetts and around the country have no idea what they are and how they might impact their business.
How Do These Two Pieces of Legislation Work?
MGL 93H means to define security breaches and regulations for the safeguarding of personal information of any Commonwealth of Massachusetts resident. While MGL93H sets in fact that there is indeed a law on the books to deal with security breaches, the regulation 201 CMR 17.00 that will go into effect on January 1, 2010 implements the provisions of the law and describes what you need to have in place in order to achieve compliance.
What Does 201 CMR 17 Mean For My Business?
201 CMR 17.00 essentially sets minimum standards for the protection of the personal information of any Massachusetts resident, whether it is stored in paper or electronic format. This response to the explosion in identity theft is an effort to ensure that anyone that owns, licenses, stores, or maintains information about a Massachusetts resident must follow a set of requirements to protect that data from those that might use it inappropriately or illegally. What must be considered is if and how these regulations will impact your business. If you take information about your customers, employees or even contract help (that reside in Massachusetts) such as their name, along with:
- Address
- Social Security number
- Credit card number
- Driver’s license information
- Other state issued identification information
and hold it in paper format or a database for any purpose – then these regulations will affect you and you must take steps to comply.
Bill Sifflard - With over thirty years experience as an entrepreneur, an executive, an author and as a business consultant, Bill Sifflard has a long history of experience bringing innovation, efficiency and success to large and small businesses adapting to evolving markets.
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