Tag Archives: secure paper shredding service

Gaining the Confidence of Your Clients

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Consumer confidence is lacking in recent years mainly due to scandals that have exposed that some of the most popular brands are actually failing their clients in keeping their word. Therefore, it is more significant than ever before to portray a trustworthy and reliable stance in relation to all aspects of your company. A good start to this is to ensure you have a regular document shredding service.

trust document shredding service

Security is the basis for confidence

Data security is a vital for all businesses, irrespective of industry or customer base. Consumers need to trust those who they share their information with, without the basis of trust, there can be no transaction. This is evident when we look at cases of data breach in the past, large brands have come tumbling down due to various scandals over the years. Therefore, industries need to be able to demonstrate that they can handle, store and dispose of their consumers’ information in a secure manner. Secure document shredding services are a perfect way to do this. It is paramount to display to your customer base that there is a standard in place to achieve this level of security. This will build confidence in your service/brand.

Environmental Respect

There is an exceptional number of waste paper passing through our offices every day. Allowing this to end up in general waste is just irresponsible. Not only can it cause serious issues with data breach it also is not environmentally friendly. Your shredding service can provide you with the peace of mind that all your documentation is securely destroyed and recycled. You are not only protecting the security of your company you are also protecting the world we all live in. The greener your company can be while protecting the clients you value the more trust you will build.

4 Steps to Avoid Mistakes in Physical Data Management

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Recently we have been discussing in detail the risks associated with digital devices and cyber security however physical documentation needs to be secure too and there are some measures you can put in place to ensure this is paramount.

Files

1.      Index your files

The majority of the files that your business will gather over time may never even be used or accessed after a certain length of time. Having an indexing system in place will allow you to keep track of each and every document, when they are received and what purpose they serve for the company. It will be convenient for finding and accessing documents efficiently.

2.      Retention & Disposal Schedules

Included with your indexing system you can schedule each documents lifespan. The recommended maximum time to keep most documentation is seven years however this will depend on the individual document. Therefore, when you index each file add an end date. It will allow you to quickly find anything you need. It will also assist you in removing the clutter of documents you no longer need and keep you compliant with the ‘EU General Data Protection Regulation’ (GDPR)

3.      Storage

Use document storage boxes which are secure and locked. Taking all of these precautions and then having a filing cabinet which is open and accessible to anyone and everyone will just undermine any security measures you have put in place.

4.      Shredding

Last but not least is your method of destruction once your documents have reached their use by date. You will need to decide what kind of service best suits you; onsite shredding or offsite shredding. Having your secure paper shredding service scheduled regularly can be convenient. Just contact us and we can discuss what option would suit you best.

Shredded Paper

Getting Ready for 2020

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2020 is fast approaching. Rather than leaving things to the last minute, now is the time to begin your end of year clear-out. What needs to be shredded and what needs to be kept in storage? As a general rule, older archives past the 7-year date mark should be destroyed. This whole process can be overwhelming and time consuming however in order to keep the procedure as time efficient and simple as possible there are a few questions you should ask yourself.

Office Documents in Boxes
  • What is the type of data?
  • Why do you have it? Do you really need it? Is it easy to get that information again if you need it down the line?
  • Where is it kept? Is it kept in filing cabinets? Or is it digitally saved?
  • When was it acquired? Has it been over 7 years ago? Is it time to remove it from your records?
  • Who has access to it?
Organised documents

Answering these questions should provide you with the necessary solutions you need in order to keep compliant with the GDPR. When asking yourself these questions it is important to consider all forms of data; confidential paper, hard-drives and media devices, or branded products such as business cards or uniforms etc. Once all this is organised it is time to contact your trusted shredding company who can provide you with options for the certified destruction of your data.

The sooner you begin; the sooner you are ready for the new year.

Why is waste office paper not actual waste? (Onsite Paper Destruction)

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sis-shredded-paper-photo-6

Historically and in some cases today people and Organisations have disposed of waste paper through waste recycling streams and have not hired in an Onsite shredding service nor an offsite shredding service for documents that are no longer required.

Within this blog entry I will be discussed Waste Vs Data (Liability).

Under Waste Management Legislation paper contains a European Waste Catalogue (EWC) Code, now this code means that the material needs to;

  1. Be recycled in line with The European Waste Hierarchy
  2. Be handled and processed through an Organisation that have a waste permit.

Having a waste permit does not mean that you are a waste company and in turn, having systems in place to recycle paper does not mean that you are a Data Processor that provides paper shredding services (I will cover this in more detail later).

Organisations such as Construction firms, Removal firms and Storage firms have waste permits in order to carry their materials but none of these firms are waste operators.    With this in mind, why would you release your confidential information that holds legislative fines of up to 20 Million Euro to a waste firm to recycle for you? Even if the waste firm offers “secure paper shredding services”, there is still no reason to justify releasing your data to them based on your legislative responsibility and obligations.

Off site document shredding

Data Processor Vs Materials Processor

A Data Processor is a person/Organisation who processes (E.g. Destroys) personal data on behalf of a Data Controller. A Data Controller is a person/Organisation who controls the contents and use of personal data (Any Organisation).

The key point to take away here is that Data Protection Laws only apply to Data Processors and Data Controllers. So, if a Data Controller (You) releases “waste” paper DATA to a waste firm to be recycled (Securely or not), under Data Protection Law you have released personal data to an Organisation who may not be a Data Processor and the waste firm may understand it as you (The Data Controller) has actually releases waste material (Paper material) for recycling. In the case of a data breach occurring here who do you feel will be at fault and who will receive the fines of up to 20 Million Euro, yes your correct, it will be you The Data Controller.

So when you are deciding upon what paper shred service to implement within your business, it is important to understand that you need a Data Processing Firm to destroy that data for you. If an Organisation is for example offering secure onsite paper shredding or secure offsite paper shredding they need to acknowledge that it is Data that they are processing for you.

For more information upon Data Protection and how to protect your business please contact one of our helpful team at;

info@securityinshredding.com