ACT Report: Safeguard Client Info

NU Online News Service, Dec. 8, 11:00 a.m.EST?New legal requirements call for independent insuranceagents and brokers to put a specific focus on keeping theirclients' information private, a report said.[@@]

"Safeguarding Non-Public Personal Information," is a new reportfrom the Agents Council for Technology addressing privacyissues.

ACT is a forum for agent and industry associations, user groups,companies and vendors to address critical technology and workflowissues facing the independent agency system. It is sponsored by theAlexandria, Va.-based Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers ofAmerica.

New privacy laws and regulations, such as HIPAA (HealthInsurance Portability and Accountability Act), Gramm-Leach-Bliley,the Fair Credit Reporting Act, and state regulations, may requireadjustments in insurance agency operations to meet the newrequirements, the report said.

Jeff Yates, ACT executive director, said agents and brokers needto be aware of the new regulations and their impact on theiroperations, and instruct and train staff accordingly.

The report's aim is to familiarize agents and brokers withprivacy issues and get them started with a compliance plan, saidChris Ball, a principal of InSource Inc., in Miami, and chairman ofthe ACT work group that developed the report. It also preparesproducers for a privacy audit.

Some key principles outlined in the report for producers toconsider:

? Developing an overall policy designed to comply with variousprivacy laws rather than trying to adopt multiple policies basedupon the requirements of each law.

? Appointing a privacy officer who has a good knowledge ofoverall agency operations and charging that individual withdeveloping a detailed understanding of the various privacylaws.

? Appointing a security officer to oversee the agency's securitypolicies and procedures to protect the agency's information fromboth external and internal threats, whether the information is inelectronic or paper form, or conveyed orally.

? Limiting some information to only those employees who need tosee it.

? Auditing and documenting the implementation of privacypolicies and procedures to measure the policy's success and toprovide an audit trail.

The report with a new companion publication "ACT HIPAA andPrivacy Supplement," is available for downloading throughwww.independentagentagent.com/act under the "TechnologyReports" section. More information on ACT is available bycontacting Jeff Yates at (800) 221-7917 or[email protected].