The Federal Trade Commission enforces the Disposal Rules which became part of the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACTA) on June 1, 2005.

The Disposal Rule applies to consumer report information and

Consumer Report information is any information with respect to

• credit reports
• payroll records
• employment records
• insurance
• banking history
• residential or tenant history
• medical history
• social security information
• telecommunication information
• educational background

The Gramm-Leach-Bliley (GLB) Act of 1999

Requires financial institutions to destroy, in a confidential manner, all non-public personal information such as:

• name, address, social security number and account number
• acknowledgment that individual is a customer of a financial institution
• loan application information
• credit history 

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA)

This law protects against the misuse or disclosure of a patient's health records without creating unanticipated consequences that might harm patients' access to care or quality of care.  This includes any document that can be traced back to a patient such as:

• medical history
• duplicate pages of forms
• misprints
• copies of billing statements
• hand-written memos
• dietary menus
• prescription slips
• appointment schedules