Revision 24-3; Effective Sept. 1, 2024

To dispose of documents with an applicant or recipient's information, follow procedures for destruction of confidential data per Texas Health and Human Services (HHSC) records management policies.

C-2510 Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Federal Tax Information (FTI) Sanitization

Revision 24-3; Effective Sept. 1, 2024

All Programs

The sanitization process removes FTI from media to ensure the information cannot be retrieved or reconstructed. Examples include, but are not limited to, digital media found in scanners, copiers, printers, computers, network components, mobile devices, and non-digital media such as paper and microfilm. Staff must use agency-approved software and methods for sanitizing FTI. The following are acceptable sanitization methods:

  • Clearing protects the confidentiality of information against a robust keyboard attack. Simple deletion of items is not sufficient. Clearing must not allow information to be retrieved by data, disk or file recovery utilities. It must be resistant to keystroke recovery attempts. Overwriting is an example of an acceptable clearing method.
  • Purging protects the confidentiality of information against a laboratory attack. This type of attack involves using signal processing equipment and specially trained personnel. Examples of acceptable purging methods are executing the firmware Secure Erase command for ATA drives and degaussing by destabilizing a device’s magnetic field.

HHSC must maintain sanitization records which include the:

  • control number, file name and contents, or both for each record;
  • total number of records;
  • date and method of sanitation; and
  • date of sanitization verification.

C-2520 IRS FTI Destruction

Revision 24-3; Effective Sept. 1, 2024

All Programs

The destruction process ensures that media with FTI cannot be reused as originally intended. Examples include but are not limited to disintegration, incineration, pulverizing, shredding and melting. Staff use Form H1861 to record and track the destruction of FTI. If non-HHSC staff destroy FTI, an HHSC employee must witness the destruction. Staff must use the following approved destruction methods for destroying FTI:

  • Incinerators certified to produce enough heat to burn the entire bundle. If the incinerator cannot burn the entire bundle, separate the pages to ensure all materials are incinerated.
  • Shredders producing crosscut particles which are a maximum of 1 mm by 5 mm or 0.04 inches by 0.2 inches. If shredding deviates from these specifications, then the FTI must be safeguarded until it reaches the stage where it is rendered unreadable through additional means, such as burning or pulping.
  • Disintegrator or Pulverizer equipped with a 2.4-mm or 3/32-inch security screen.

HHSC must maintain destruction records which include:

  • date the records were received;
  • control number, file name and contents, or both for each record;
  • name of the person receiving the records;
  • total number of records, if available;
  • movement of records from receipt to destruction; and
  • date and method of destruction.