Companies use document shredding to keep their clients sensitive and personal written information out of the wrong hands. Document shredding is used to destroy all confidential material. You can use off-site professional document shredding companies, mobile professional shredding companies, or in house shredding machines. Document shredding is becoming increasingly important as identity theft is increasing. To protect you and your accounts document shredding is preferred and used extensively. Small in-house shredders are great for families who do not have many documents to shred. But if you frequently shred a lot of documents then you may want to use a professional shredding company. Mobile professional document shredding occurs when a shredding truck comes to your place of business and shreds the document sin the parking lot. Off-site professional document shredding is when your documents are transported and shredded at another secure facility outside of your company. In house shredding means that your company owns a shredding machine that can be utilized. Document shredders do not all work the same way so you need to be cautious. The size or the product from the shredders can vary and if your paper is not shredded fine enough then someone may be able to access your information or even partially reconstruct part of your document. Any professional document shredding company should be able to produce a sample of their shredders when asked. Many companies like to keep particularly sensitive documents in very secure areas and this may influence what type of document shredding they use. If you are confident that a professional shredding company will keep all of the documents and their information secure then they will not have a problem using off-site facilities. This is completely up to the company and may vary between businesses. Utilizing a shredding company can save you both time and money. You will not have to hire an additional person to shred your documents, waste your business and personal time shredding documents, you won't have any maintenance cost or machine costs, no noise or paper dust, and all your paper will be recycled. You also do not need to spend the time removing any folders, paper clips, rubber bands or staples as the employees at the shredding company will take care of this for you. Documents shredding is now required as part of the FACTA law that states that companies must discard important personal and business documents in a safe way eliminating any chance of identity theft. Document shredders are considered a proper document disposal avenue. You can obtain many different features on a document shredder and the type of features you want will be mirrored in the price. You can find crosscut paper shredders and strip cut shredders. Cross cut shredders produce paper confetti bits while strip cut shredders produce strips. You will also need to choose a machine based on how much shredding you wish to do, as machines for continuous use will be different from those that are used infrequently.
Law enforcement Legal industries Government Banking Health care Financial service (brokerage) Entertainment Technology Manufacturing industries
The answer: the above-mentioned industries regard information as a very important aspect of their operations. They are information-sensitive - they have a need to ensure that important and confidential data are secured and protected at all times.
What data are considered classified? Some are listed below:
Disbursement records (Wages, etc.) Accounts records (financial statements such as the balance sheet, etc.) Sales receipts Bank records Social Security records Business letters Customer information Personnel records Computer printouts Computer discs or tapes
Why is there a need to protect such data? Industries are in constant danger of having such sensitive information to 'fall into the wrong hands' - people that are out to inflict damage, such as a discontented employee or a competitor, which could result to either of the following:
Bad publicity Humiliation Loss of staff or key personnel (probably to a competitor) Loss of customers Loss of job or running out of business A possible indictment
This is why every information-sensitive industry needs a proper and secure records storage and management. However, such course of action usually requires much room (think of all those years' worth of papers and electronic tapes piling up); it also incurs high costs. In addition, there will also come a time when the company will need to purge itself of the age-old materials. But these outdated materials will still be sensitive, and throwing away classified documents in a wastebasket will not do the trick - they can still be collected and sorted out, the information still made available to whoever would want them.
There is a truly a great need for a secure disposal of sensitive data, and an effective solution to this crucial aspect of an industry is document shredding.
Document shredding is a safe and secure option for discarding restricted documents and materials. In document shredding, sensitive files and records are destroyed, turning them into bits that can no longer be recognized; thereby ensuring that confidentiality is maintained.
The document shredding process is entirely flexible that it can adapt to any industry's distinct requirements in destroying sensitive records. Depending on what would suit it's needs, a company can either purchase it's own document shredder or employ outsourced document shredding services, who can then perform the document shredding process on-site or off-site.
On-site document shredding provides industries with the opportunity to observe the actual shredding of their materials 'on site', right at their doorsteps. The use of mobile shredding vehicles and equipment will especially fit those who do not want their records to leave their site intact.
In an off-site document shredding, the document-shredding company collects the materials in security containers and hauls them in a safe location that may be monitored by security cameras where they are destroyed into little pieces. Aside from the surveillance cameras, industries can also send representatives to personally observe the actual document shredding process.
Once the classified records are destroyed in a proper and secure manner, the document shredding company will then provide its client with a "Certificate of Destruction," which notes the date and time as well as the accounting of the materials shredded. This not only serves as a proof that the documents were destroyed properly; it also gives the client the necessary data for an audit trail.
There are many advantages in making use of the services of an outside document shredding company:
A document shredding service enables the company to save thousands of dollars by not having to buy a document shredding equipment and not having to worry of the depreciation as well as the maintenance costs.
A document shredding service also enables the company to save in terms of labor. Employees would not need to spend hours to do the document shredding. Employees can spend the time more effectively by doing their own jobs.
A document shredding company also helps the environment by recycling. Recycling is the final step in almost all the document shredding process. The shredded materials are collected and, through baling and/or pulping, can be used again to form other items such as boxes and copier papers, among others.
We cannot deny that protecting the interests of a company remains a crucial phase of every business, especially in this age of information. And with document shredding, we are not only securing an industry's information, we are also helping the environment - a win-win solution.
Both Marc Stevens & John Morris are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
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