Google launched their long awaited Google Health this week. One of the features is to allow individuals to store their medical records with Google. The idea of online medical records has an appeal but the application has significant security risks.

Every other Google user agreement says that the data is the property of Google. That means they can sell your information and place ads on your records. I don't know about you but I am not so comfortable with a business having this personal information and then using it for marketing.

Iron Mountain has announced the acquisition of DocuVault of Denver. DocuVault provides records storage, secure shredding and data backup services to the front range of Colorado. DocuVault was the largest privately held records management company in Colorado prior to their sale.

Terms of the deal were not released.

Cornerstone Fitness recently moved to a new location. It seemed like an upgrade for the business but not everything went smoothly during the move. Several boxes of customer contracts were left in the dumpster. The contracts contained the personal information of their clients.

The gym owners say of the contracts should have been left in a dumpster and they blame the movers for the error. "We hired a professional moving company to take care of it. And to our best knowledge, they moved everything," says Joseph De La Garza, one of the co-owners.

With the number of people who are digging through trash, customer records are not something to be left for chance.

Records Managers have long know about the risks of storing data but what is the actually liability. According to a 2007 survey by the Ponemon Institute it is $128 per each customer contact record compromised. The survey was of 35 merchants who had a data breach in the prior year. Add to this that the FTC can refer cases to the Department of Justice for criminal charges or damages.

Data is important for a business but improperly held and used data is closer to toxic waste than a business asset. It is more than enough to keep a records manager up at night.

Here are some practical tips for the part time records manager.