with business records is it legal to retain credit card numbers…

DearCustomer

The law which applied to this situation is the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) which states a number of principles in relation to the retention of the personal information for private organisations. In particular, there are 11 important principles which the law applies, they can be found here:

http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/cth/consol_act/pa1988108/s14.html

Specifically in relation to credit cards, In 2006 the 'CISP' (Credit Information Security Protocal) was negotiated between the major credit card operators in Australia which mirrored the American standards, details of which can be found here:

http://usa.visa.com/merchants/risk_management/cisp_tools_faq.html?it=c|/business/accepting_visa/ops_risk_management/cisp_service_providers.html|PCI%20Data%20Security%20Standard

There are a number of principles in these documents which relate to the holding of credit card information:

Build and Maintain a Secure Network

Requirement 1: Install and maintain a firewall configuration to protect cardholder data
Requirement 2: Do not use vendor-supplied defaults for system passwords and other security parameters

Protect Cardholder Data

Requirement 3: Protect stored cardholder data
Requirement 4: Encrypt transmission of cardholder data across open, public networks

Maintain a Vulnerability Management Program

Requirement 5: Use and regularly update anti-virus software
Requirement 6: Develop and maintain secure systems and applications

Implement Strong Access Control Measures

Requirement 7: Restrict access to cardholder data by business need-to-know
Requirement 8: Assign a unique ID to each person with computer access
Requirement 9: Restrict physical access to cardholder data

Regularly Monitor and Test Networks

Requirement 10: Track and monitor all access to network resources and cardholder data
Requirement 11: Regularly test security systems and processes

Maintain an Information Security Policy

Requirement 12: Maintain a policy that addresses information security

To further the adoption of the PCI DSS, the PCI Security Standards Council defines credentials and qualifications for QSAs and ASVs. The PCI Security Standards Council also manages a global training and certification program for QSAs and ASVs, and will publish a directory of certified providers on this Web site.


You can also take a questionairre to see if your organisation is compliant with these standards here:

https://www.pcisecuritystandards.org/saq/instructions_dss.shtml#instructions

I hope that this information is useful. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you require any further information or explanation.

Kind Regards,

XXXXX XXXXX