Identity theft is one of the biggest threats in the modern world. How you store employee, client, and personal information could be putting you at risk. Keeping every sensitive document and record indefinitely can become both dangerous and burdensome. Most documents only need to be kept for a few years, but how do you know what to get rid of and when to do your shredding? Here is a simple guide to help you keep the dangers and clutter down.
Documents and media material that contain sensitive or confidential information must be destroyed when they are no longer needed. This privacy law is enforced by FACTA and HIPPA and protects individual and business security. Shredding these documents is the safest and surest method of total destruction. When you need to destroy your sensitive papers, there are several options you can use.
Identity theft is becoming a more significant threat every day. People are finding their identity is being stolen from some of the least suspected areas. Movies give you the impression that thieves sit in dark rooms with computer screens in front of them as they search for your vulnerable information online. This idea is far from the truth. Most identity thieves attack in areas you consider to be safe. The workplace is one of those areas, and identity theft can happen to anyone.
Shredding your personal information and that of your clients or customers is not only vital, but it’s also the law. Tearing up papers or thinking you’ve erased data from a device and then tossing them in your garbage won’t stop criminals from finding the information they shouldn’t have.
In today’s world, it is necessary to shred sensitive material. Any document with confidential information must be destroyed to stay out of the hands of criminals. The question is how to determine which papers to destroy and how to shred them? The best solution is to implement a shred-all policy.
15.4 million people were the victims of identity fraud in 2016, according to a study by Javelin Strategy & Research. Identity fraud continues to grow, and so does the need to keep your financial and personal information safe and secure.
Many businesses assume that deleting sensitive files is enough to keep confidential information safe. Digital files are just as vulnerable, if not more vulnerable, than paper files and must be disposed of properly.
Confidentiality and business go hand-in-hand — a fact that isn’t necessarily making headlines. However, there is one casualty of the professional sphere that is noteworthy: identity theft.
It is mandated by law that every business puts in place steps to protect customer and employee information. This is to deter the efforts of fraudsters who would use such information to carry out white collar crime like siphoning funds out of the bank accounts or credit and debit cards of unsuspecting people. Every business must therefore have in place a strategy for document shredding based on its the nature of its activities, its scope and other specifics.
When companies simply tear up and throw away their documents, they put themselves at risk of someone retrieving and reading them. These documents often contain sensitive information such as company bank account details and client records that criminals can use to steal identities. Someone can break into a bank account or start using a credit card within minutes of stealing the information.