Texas AG makes firms pay for breaches.

• Author: Swartz, Nikki
• Position: UP FRONT: News, Trends & Analysis - Attorneys general - Brief article

After identity theft scandals, Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott is requiring two Texas-based employers to undergo mandatory employee training annually for the next five years.

As part of the agreement, employees of Radio Shack and Select Medical Texas L.P. will learn about identity theft, its costs to patients and customers, and the importance of complying with new document disposal procedures, which were implemented as part of the agreements. To further ensure compliance with the new procedures, the two employers must post, at each of their locations, signs describing the record storage and disposal requirements and maintain certification records showing each employee's compliance with the training requirements.

In addition, Radio Shack has agreed to conduct unannounced compliance audits at all of its Texas stores at least twice a year.

Abbott's office prosecuted the two companies under the state's Identity Theft Enforcement and Protection Act, As a result of t addition to the...