Website Design and the Liability of Storing Information

[Rachel Dunham]

I am working on developing my website and would like to have everything my customers or I need, in one place. I was told, by a website developer, that it's not a good idea to put rental applications on your website, because of the liability of storing personal information, specifically social security numbers. If she is right and I shouldn't host my own rental application forms, does anyone recommend a company that provides these forms and hosts the stored information themselves and has some sort of wiget that I can embed in my website? That way, it at least feels like everything is in one place. What is everyone's thoughts/experiences with this? Also, does anyone have a recommendation for the best wiget for accepting fees and rental payments?