Data Disposal Laws

Personal identifying information is often collected by businesses and government and is stored in various formats--digital and paper. At least 29 states have enacted laws that require entities to destroy, dispose, or otherwise make personal information unreadable or undecipherable. See also Security Breach Notification Laws and Identify Theft Statutes.

Last update: June 22, 2012

STATE	Applies to Government ?	Applies to Businesses?	Statute
Alaska	Yes	Yes	Alaska Stat. §45.48.500
Arizona	Yes	Yes	Ariz. Rev. Stat. §44-7601
Arkansas	Yes	Yes	Ark. Code §4-110-103 Ark. Code §4-110-104
California	No	Yes	Cal. Civ. Code §1798.81
Colorado	Yes	Yes	Colo. Rev. Stat. §6-1-713
Connecticut	No	Yes	Conn. Gen. Stat. §42-471
Georgia	No	Yes	Ga. Code §10-15-2
Hawaii	Yes	Yes	Haw. Rev. Stat. §487R-2
Illinois	Yes	No	20 ILCS 450/20, 815 ILCS 530/40
Indiana	No	Yes	Ind. Code §§ 24-4-14-8, 24-4.9-3-3.5(c)
Kansas	Yes	Yes	Kan. Stat. §50-7a01 Kan. Stat. §50-7a03
Kentucky	No	Yes	Ky. Rev. Stat. §365.725
Massachusetts	Yes	Yes	Mass. Gen. Laws Ch. 93I, §2
Maryland	No	Yes	Md. Code, Comm. Law §14-3507
Michigan	Yes	Yes	MCL §445.72a
Missouri	No	Yes	Mo. Stat. §288.360
Montana	No	Yes	Mont. Code Ann. §30-14-1703
Nevada	No	Yes	Nev. Rev. Stat. §603A.200
New Jersey	Yes	Yes	N.J. Stat. §56:8-161 N.J. Stat. §56:8-162
New York	No	Yes	N.Y. Gen. Bus. Law §399-H
North Carolina	No	Yes	N.C. Gen. Stat. §75-64
Oregon	Yes	Yes	Ore. Rev. Stat. §646A.602(10) Ore. Rev. Stat. §646A.622
Rhode Island	No	Yes	R.I. Gen. Laws §6-52-2
South Carolina	No	Yes	S.C. Code §37-20-190
Texas	No	Yes	Tex. Bus. & Com. Code §72.004, §521.052
Utah	No	Yes	Utah Code §13-44-201
Vermont	No	Yes	9 Vt. Stat. §2445
Washington	Yes	Yes	Wash. Rev. Code §19.215.020
Wisconsin	No	Yes	Wisc. Stat. §134.97

¹ The Arizona statute is limited to paper records.

²Nevada provides additional protections requiring encryption or destruction of data on data storage devices, and includes requirements for digital copiers. See Nev. Rev. Stat. § 603A.215(2).

NCSL contact for more information: Pam Greenberg, NCSL Denver, pam.greenberg@ncsl.org.



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