USA PATRIOT Act Compliance Issues for Non-Financial Companies

The USA PATRIOT Act and Executive Order 13224 have broad implications for information privacy, security, and records retention policy. While the financial services industry is most affected, all companies will need to re-evaluate their policies for customer information collection and privacy, acceptable use, records retention, and information sharing with law enforcement agencies. This paper presents legal issues, business impact, and recommendations for GIAC Enterprises, a fictitious U.S.-based online wholesale industrial supply firm. GIAC Enterprises currently does business only in the United States, but is considering expanding into international markets.