More and more business owners are purchasing document shredders then ever before.

Why?... Identity theft for starters.

A new law is going into effect in the summer of 2005 which states that if you employ anyone for any reason and have personal information on file regarding that individual for Social Security taxes, credit references, etc., you will have to destroy that information on any document before you toss it into the trash.

The law requires you to destroy all paper or computer disks containing personal information which has been derived from a consumer report before it may be discarded.

FACTA (Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act) came into being when signed by President Bush on December 4, 2003.

Some of what FACTA allows:

* One free credit report per year per consumer at www.annualcreditreport.com or by calling 877-322-8228. This went into effect across the country on September 1, 2003.

* All electronically printed credit card receipts must show only the last fire digits of a credit card number. This went into effect in December 2003.

*All information collected from a consumer credit report must be destroyed by an employer prior to discarding it. This will become effective June 1, 2005.

*Anyone suspecting identity theft needs to notify only one of three credit-reporting companies in order to set off a nationwide fraud alert. This is effective now.

*Whether your loan is approved or not, mortgage companies have to provide the credit score they used to determine the loans interest rate. This is effective now.

Identity theft has become a huge problem and it is hitting corporate America hard.

Approximately 7 million people had their identities stolen in 2003.