On and Off-Site Shredding Services

To make it easier to purge and shred outdated files, professional organizers recommend adding a destruction date to files and folders. This makes it easy to quickly pull those slated for destruction, channel them into the shredding system, and keep your filing system streamlined.

When a shredding service disposes of your documents, the documents are shredded using crosscutting into a fine confetti. To make it even harder to reconstruct confidential documents, the crosscut confetti is mixed with other shredded documents so single documents can't be pieced together.

Alan Shugart of IBM invented the floppy disk in 1967. Floppies made data conveniently portable, and in the 1980s they moved into widespread use along with PCs. If you still have floppies in archive files, back them up and schedule them for shredding.

So what exactly is a Certificate of Destruction when it comes to professional shredding services? This is a signed testimonial issued after shredding service delivery that documents the method of destruction, date of destruction, and any other relevant details.

Imagine standing in a room with three other people. At some point, one of you is going to be the victim of identity theft, according to statistics compiled by the Federal Trade Commission. When you hire a shredding company, your company’s trash becomes worthless to identity thieves.

Are you in the healthcare business? If so, personal medical records must be cross-shredded before they can be thrown away, according to regulations contained in the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act.

Did you know that medical records are one of the primary targets for identity thieves? If medical records are a part of your business, then certified paper shredding of all of your sensitive documents is critical so that you remain in compliance with HIPAA regulations.

It’s important to shred confidential information. Why? In the US, identity theft is one of the most prevalent and costly crimes. In 2011, more than 11.6 million Americans were the victims of identity theft, which translated into more than $13.3 billion dollars in losses.

One of the earliest privacy laws is the Privacy Act of 1974. This was passed as part of a reaction to the Watergate controversy and concerns about government surveillance. Among other things, the act required government agencies to develop standard practices for the disposal of records with personally identifiable information.

In addition to working with a professional shredding service, it’s important to establish internal procedures for the appropriate handling of confidential and sensitive information to ensure employees understand what types of information must be protected.

Are you familiar with the Fair and Accurate Credit Transaction Act? FACTA requires the proper disposal of customer data in order to reduce the chances of both consumer fraud and identity theft. Hiring a shredding service is one way to follow the requirements of FACTA.

Hiring a shredding service can reduce your liability in the event customer or employee information is somehow stolen. In some cases, having an established practice of turning over personal documents to a shredding service establishes a company has taken reasonable attempts to protect personal information.

Your customers will appreciate the efforts you make to have documents shredded by professionals to protect confidential information. A study in 2010 showed the average victim of identity theft spent 33 hours to resolve the situation with banks, credit card companies, and other authorities.