Data Privacy Laws: How Does Louisiana Measure Up?

Bronze figure of Lady Justice with her scales on a background of the Louisiana State and United States flags waving in the windEvery day we go about our own business, making transactions and sharing our personal information with organizations that we believe we can trust. At the same time, identity thieves go about their own business, looking for opportunities to collect and steal private information to use for their personal benefit. Anyone could be their target, even you.

Targeted Attack

In June of this year, 6 million Louisiana Office of Motor Vehicles records were compromised in a single data breach. This was an intentional, targeted cyberattack on any Louisiana resident with a state issued driver’s license, ID card or vehicle registration, using MOVEit, a popular third-party tool used to quickly transfer large files. At the time of reporting, there hadn’t been any indication the hackers had used, shared, or released any of the stolen data. Unfortunately, the information that was taken included extremely valuable personal information including:

  • Names
  • Addresses
  • Birthdates
  • Driver’s License Numbers
  • Social Security Numbers

This attack is a good reminder that hackers are still actively finding pathways to sensitive information despite constantly-evolving data security practices, data protection software, the federal Privacy Act of 1974 and Louisiana’s Constitution of 1974 (Article 1, Section 5) and Database Security Breach Notification Law of 2006.

Recommendations for Protecting Your Personal Information

Identity thieves have always thrived on finding information on discarded paper, hard drives, and other data storage media. Dumpster divers are still very active, looking for information you have tossed that can allow them to hijack your identity and finances. The information of Louisiana residents and businesses is protected by a combination of:

  • Privacy law requirements
  • Awareness campaigns
  • Recommendations for security practices
  • Professional shredding companies

The law requires all organizations dealing with Personally Identifiable Information (PII) or Protected Health Information (PHI) to properly destroy that information at the end of its lifecycle, whether it is contained on paper documents or digital storage media.

Secure shredding is recognized by government agencies, businesses, healthcare and other organizations the world over as the best way to protect sensitive information. A “shred everything” policy is a pillar of information security, and if you work with a shredding company that recycles shredded materials, you can protect your data and the planet.

ShredLink uses state-of-the-art industrial shredding equipment and best practices to keep information secure. And environmentally-conscious individuals will be glad to know that all matter shredded in our high-security facility is subsequently recycled for public consumption, usually in the form of commercial tissue! Whether your southeast Louisiana business requires recurring scheduled shredding or a one-time shredding purge, we are here to help. Simply call us at 504-885-0186 or complete the form on this page.


If you were impacted by the Louisiana Office of Motor Vehicles data breach or any other breach:

  • Act as if your data has been compromised, whether you are a current or former registrant or client.
  • Monitor your credit report. Unexpected changes to your report are an indication that your identity has been compromised. You are entitled to one free credit check annually.
  • If you wish to protect your credit from unauthorized use, request a credit freeze from each of the three credit bureaus: Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion.

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