What constitutes proper disposal of consumer information under FACTA?

• A. Shredding or otherwise destroying paper records and securely erasing electronic data
• B. Deleting files from the cloud without destroying
• C. Archiving records for 7 years
• D. Copying data to USB drives for backup

Answer: (A)

Disposing of consumer information properly means destroying it so it can’t be reconstructed or retrieved. Under FACTA, this applies to both paper and electronic data: paper records containing consumer information should be shredded or otherwise destroyed, and electronic data should be securely erased from all storage media so the information cannot be recovered. Deleting files from the cloud without destroying them isn’t enough because copies can remain in backups or on the provider’s systems. Archiving records for a period is about retention, not disposal, and copying data to USB drives for backup preserves the information rather than disposing of it. So the correct approach is to shred and securely destroy both physical and electronic records.