May 20, 2012
The Best Time For Paper Shredding
Any business or organization that collects private information from clients or customers as a regular part of doing business will need to do some paper shredding. It doesn’t make good business sense to keep confidential information lying around, and in a lot of places it also violates privacy laws. Having information lying around leaves you open to the growing problem of identity theft, which is a threat to virtually every business. So, the real issue is not so much whether you should do paper shredding or not, but when it should be done.
Obviously, you aren’t going to take each sheet of paper out and individually shred it every time it’s no longer needed. Of course, following the law is the first indication of when is the best time for paper shredding. Read the laws in your area and when they tell you it’s the best time, it’s the best time. That may refer to keeping certain information for a specified time limit, or just having certain kinds of information at all. Obeying the privacy laws is a great way to know when it’s time for shredding, but it isn’t the only way.
If you own a business that came along before computers and privacy laws and identity theft, you may have stacks of files lying around a storeroom somewhere. Many of these customers and clients may no longer be clients, or might not even be alive anymore, but they still need to be shredded. It doesn’t take anything for a skilled thief to get hold of old files and turn them into modern identities. If you have old files that are no longer in use, it is time to do some paper shredding. Chances are, those files contain a lot of information that an identity thief would find very valuable. Shredding the files that you don’t use anymore is also a good way to free up some space in your office for other things.
It might be tempting to try and take care of all your shredding needs by yourself, but it is never recommended, especially with financial and other sensitive information. It makes the most sense to hire a professional paper shredding company to do the shredding for you. When you have experts on board, you’ll no longer have to wonder when is the best time for paper shredding, because they’ll keep track of it for you. They will worry about the laws and get you on a regular shredding schedule.
A professional paper shredding company, such as Shred-It also takes extra care to make sure there is no way your documents are ever recovered. The more reputable ones will bring specialized trucks and shred your documents right at your business. This way, they never actually leave the business in one piece, making even more difficult for thieves. Mixing the shredded paper with other shredded paper, then taking it all for recycling, makes it virtually impossible for any of your information to get into the wrong hands.
When to Change Paper Shredding Services
Most businesses that are serious about protecting the private information of clients and customers will employ a company that provides professional paper shredding services. Paper shredding is serious business, and finding a company that does a good job for you is of primary importance. Like many other industries, sometimes the time comes when your paper shredding company isn’t performing how you like and you must make a change. Just pay attention to a handful of different elements and you’ll know if your document shredding company is doing a good job or if a change is in order.
The main reason you have hired paper shredding services in the first place is to protect the privacy of your customers, clients and your own business. If you feel like the company you hired is cutting corners with security or not taking enough precautions, it may be time for a change. Sometimes, you may want a change because you’ve heard about a different way a company does things that you feel is more effective than the way yours does it. As an example, some companies will shred your documents on-site, while others will take them away in their whole form to be shredded. Whatever the reason, if you feel that the security aspect isn’t being met, find a new company who will handle it how you want.
If your paper shredding services seem to have trouble keeping up to government legislation dealing with data protection, that may also be a good time to make a change. Legislation about just about everything tends to change regularly, and data protection isn’t any different. If you can’t feel confident that your data destruction company is always on top of the laws, you could end with hefty fines and a damaged reputation.
If you find that you have trouble getting in touch with your paper shredding services or they aren’t keeping to an agreed upon schedule, it may be a god idea to look elsewhere. When it’s time to do some shredding, you want the company you pay to do it at your business and shredding documents. The longer confidential files and documents sit around, the greater the likelihood and opportunity for someone to take them and compromise the information.
If you want to enhance your company’s ‘green’ image and your paper shredding services company won’t recycle what they shred, go find one that will. If you have a business that shreds a high volume of material every year, you can really push the green angle if the document shredders will recycle. Having a good recycling philosophy will help the environment, your business’s reputation and enhance the security of the shredding even more. It isn’t beyond a criminal’s means and desire to piece shredded documents back together if they get their hands on them. By recycling, even the pieces of your documents are gone forever and made into something new. This way you can be absolutely certain that they can never be compromised.
Common Items Included in Document Shredding
Anyone who owns or is in a management position of a business that regularly takes in confidential information from clients and customers knows the value of good document shredding. In today’s society, any private information that lies around a business or even on a hard drive of a computer is just asking to be stolen. Identity theft is a huge criminal industry that affects scores of different businesses, and effective document destruction is a key element in preventing anyone from stealing information. Signing on with an outside document shredding company is the key to having all the right items destroyed at the right times.
Obvious items like bank records, credit card information and any identifying government numbers should definitely be included in a document shredding program. Other items like old receipts, loan, job or school applications and any legal records are also common items that find their way into the shredder. Basically, any file or paper that contains private information about a customer or client should be included in a document shredding program. Any item that falls under the legislation of the area in which you live should be destroyed on the proper schedule. School and hospital records are also documents that are routinely part of the shredding process.
Of course, these days not all information that is given is stored on paper. Documents stored on hard drives and computer disks must also be destroyed as part of legislation and to protect confidential information. Not all the information that must be protected belongs to customers, though. Every business and organization has its own private and secret information such as financial records, proprietary secrets, formulas, recipes and similar information. Allowing this type of information to get out could spell disaster for any business.
It is possible for you to try and dispose of your confidential information by yourself, but you are leaving yourself and your information at risk. Professional document shredding is the only way to get rid of your files and papers for good. A top company will leave your documents in such tiny pieces that they can never be pieced back together. Using a regular office shredder often leaves the papers in long strips, which can be put back together by a skilled criminal. Many people wouldn’t believe that anyone would try to make sense of the strips of paper from a shredder, but nothing could be further from the truth.
Document shredding doesn’t have to be overly complex. When you outsource the job to professionals, they will tell you what you need to shred and how to collect it and get it ready. They will create a shredding schedule for you and give you certificates every time they do a shredding session. Outsourcing the shredding makes it easier to get every item that requires shredding, makes it easier to stick with current legislation and it gives you peace of mind that all your secret and important information won’t be falling into the wrong hands.
How Document Shredding Stays Secure
Document shredding is a service that many companies and organizations rely on to keep the private information of their customers and members, private. Identity theft is a serious issue that threatens virtually any business that collects sensitive information from other people. Organizations like banks, insurance companies, government agencies and even universities routinely collect very private and very sensitive information as part of doing regular business. In order to stay one step ahead of identity thieves and privacy laws, many companies hire an outside document shredding service to take care of all sensitive material. Of course, hiring the right document shredding service is a key to keeping all your information out of the wrong hands. It is imperative that the document shredding service you hire keeps the information secure.
Different document shredding services may have slightly different methods to how they keep your information secure, but perhaps the most effective way is through on-site document shredding. Basically, on-site document shredding means that the service is performed at your business. The document shredding service will use secure lockboxes to temporarily store your documents, and either a truck or other method to do the actual shredding so no one can see. Effective, on-site document shredding can take care of thousands of pounds of documents per hour, and the documents are destroyed to the point that they could never be reconstructed and used again.
The way that on-site document shredding provides extra security is that the documents never actually leave your facility. You can see them go into the lockboxes, and go through the process of shredding. Shredding the documents on-site eliminates so many ‘what-ifs’ that can happen when documents are transported to another location for shredding. Most reputable companies are perfectly capable of taking your sensitive documents off-site for shredding, but the on-site factor just adds another layer of security that many business owners want and need. Since you likely have many other elements of the business to tend to, being able to see that pile of shredded paper helps you put it out of your mind and carry on with what needs to be done.
Some document shredding companies will also give you the option of choosing the size of the shredded pieces that are produced through the process. Obviously, the smaller the shredded pieces, the more difficult it will be to piece them back together which makes for a more secure shredding process. At the end of the document shredding, the company will also take your mixed and shredded files and documents away for recycling. The recycling process helps with the environment, but it also means that your former documents are gone forever, made into some new paper product. Recycling adds the final touch of security to the entire process, so those sensitive financial records or that revealing personal information no longer exists. When you entrust your document shredding to an effective and reputable outside company, the only thing you’ll really have to think about is running your business.
Why Shred Your Documents using a Paper Shredding Service?
Identity theft is an increasing threat, not only to individuals but also to businesses. Every business, not only law offices, banks and doctors, generates confidential information. Businesses collect information about employees, customers, company financial information, and product development. These are sensitive documents that, in the wrong hands, could be used fraudulently. Paper shredding services resolve such issues.
Governments at all levels recognize the importance of protecting confidential information, and have instituted regulations to ensure the security of sensitive information. There are experts out there – companies that can help your business devise a records management program, advise on what to destroy and when, and are knowledgeable about current regulations, to keep you in compliance. Simply storing sensitive documents is no longer enough. Many regulations specify for how long documents must be retained, and at what time they must be destroyed. Paper shredding is the most efficient solution to destruction of confidential information that is stored on paper. These documents include employee payroll information, health records, performance reviews; budgets and legal contracts; product formulas and drawings; supplier and customer information; contracts; health and safety issues.
Paper shredding is necessary to securing the information a company accumulates. Although most information today is generated electronically, documents are printed and filed. Those files must be protected as securely as the hard drives on a company’s computers. A shredding program will ensure that confidential and sensitive information will not fall into the wrong hands. Paper shredding experts offer the reassurance that a company’s information remains secure. Professionals help in setting up a retention schedule, and provide secure receptacles for holding the material, bonded and insured employees to remove the locked bin to a secure vehicle for transport to the shredding facility. Alternatively, most paper shredding companies offer on-site shredding. This can be supervised by the business’s own staff. After the material is shredded in a secure facility, a report is made to the company specifying the date of destruction of the sensitive material. This is added protection against any future problems with identity theft or compliance with government regulations.
Many companies believe that recycling their sensitive paper-based documents is enough. Recycling does not satisfy the regulations concerning privacy and confidentiality. The path from the bin to the ultimate recycling depot is not secure, meaning it is possible for documents contained in those bins to fall into the wrong hands. A paper shredding company will recycle the shreds that are produced in the process, helping the environment as well as providing secure destruction of confidential material and meeting regulatory mandates. Some companies have a paper shredder in-house. There is a possibility of security breach while documents stack up waiting to be shredded. The advantage of using a professional service is freeing up staff time, and maintaining the confidentiality of those papers.
Documents to be shredded must be separated, staples and paper clips taken out, and then feeding paper by paper into the machine. A professional paper shredding service removes that burden, leaving staff time to attend to more important tasks. As we gather and collect more data, we face the problem of what to do with outdated, obsolete, and sensitive material. Paper shredding is a sensible and secure solution.