Shred, Shred, Shred

If you haven't been routinely shreddingdocuments that contain personalinformation like Social Security or creditcard numbers, a new law may force youto do it. Buried in the Fair and AccurateCredit Transactions Act is a provision,effective June 1, 2005, which says that ifyou employ even one person and havepersonal information on them becauseyou pay Social Security taxes, you mustdestroy their information before tossing.That rule is expected to boost sales of personalshredders, already the fastest-growingsegment of the office products market,with revenue gains of 20% to 25%since 2001. Flout the law and you couldbe fined up to $2500 by the federal governmentand risk being named in a liabilitysuit if your employee falls victim toidentity theft, which is now the nation'sfastest-growing crime.