If not NAID, then who?

Throughout the years, NAID has done a considerable amount of regulatory-related work on behalf of the secure destruction industry.

NAID routinely has commented officially on proposed legislation in the United States, Canada, Europe and Australia whenever such opportunities arise. Most of the time, the association’s input has been deemed worthy of direct responses in the public record when such comments are reviewed. More than a few times, NAID’s input has been cited as the motivation for a significant modification to an initially proposed rule.

Periodically, NAID is asked to provide direct testimony to legislative bodies that are wrestling with data protection issues. Such was the case when NAID testified before the U.S. Senate Financial Services Committee hearings following the ChoicePoint data breach and when the Canadian House of Commons undertook its review of the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Document Act (PIPEDA).

NAID also has provided the actual language being considered by a number of state legislatures seeking to introduce data destruction requirements.

When the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) set about rulemaking for the Final Disposal Rule of the Fair and Accurate Credit Transaction Act (FACTA)—still the only national data destruction requirement—it turned immediately to NAID for counsel before putting pen to paper. Only after a series of face-to-face meetings with the association and considerable written input did the FTC move forward. Throughout the process, NAID was able to review and comment on the rule prior to its adoption.

Now, NAID is stepping up to seek the modification of a misguided New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) regulation unnecessarily restricting the shredding of hard drives. The initiative is well underway, and a positive result is promising.

I share the organization’s rich history of activism on behalf of the information destruction industry to remind members and nonmembers why the association is here. NAID is more than conferences or certification, and we should not forget that.

Even members who are not certified or who have never attended a NAID event benefit from the association’s capacity and willingness to take on important issues such as these.

Bob Johnson is CEO of the National Association for Information Destruction, Phoenix. He can be contacted via email at rjohnson@naidonline.org.