SHREDDING AND DOCUMENT DESTRUCTION BASICS
If you or your business are disposing of paperwork with confidential data just by throwing it in the recycling bin then you need to listen up. To protect your business and your customers from the threat of fraud, identity theft and competition from other businesses, you need to implement a comprehensive document destruction policy.
Let’s take a look at what you and your business should be shredding, how to shred documents securely, and whether you should hire a professional document destruction service.
What to shred
You should be shredding all documents that contain ANY confidential information. For many businesses, this could mean nearly every document produced – think about does it contain information like a client’s address, an employee’s medical records, or information about business plans and strategies. Safely destroying documents is the best form of protection for your business.
How to shred documents securely
Many of the shredders you can buy at an office supply store will cut paperwork into thin strips. For improved security, you should at a minimum look for a shredder that uses cross-cut technology to cut the paperwork into even smaller squares rather than long strips.
Should you use a professional service?
The most secure form of document disposal and shredding is through a professional service. There are several key benefits to using a shredding service:
- It is time efficient: Retail shredders can usually only shred a few sheets of paper at a time and can easily overheat. For most businesses practising effective document security, you could easily have one person spend hours each week on feeding a few sheets at a time into a shredder – time that could be far more efficiently spent on delivering customer service for example.
- It is cost effective: Intershred can provide secure bins for $75 + GST a week. Compare this to the cost of an employee’s salary and the loss of time that could go towards income-generating activities and it is easily a more cost-effective option.
- It is more secure: We guarantee complete document destruction and can provide a Certificate of Destruction for your assurance. You don’t need to worry that anyone could piece together shredded documents to steal valuable information.
Document security is important. To find out more about how professional document destruction can give you peace of mind for your business, contact us today.
