Individuals and businesses can both fall victims to identity theft through the documents they possess. But, you can prevent identity theft by securing your documents and investing in a reliable document destruction service. Shredding your documents ensures that criminals cannot access your customers’ information and other sensitive information regarding you or your business. Nowadays, more and more organizations are transferring their records to safe data storage or the cloud, making document shredding a necessity.
Benefits of Using Professional Document Destruction Service
Reduces the Risk of Identity Theft
Shredding your documents at the office isn’t very secure. When shredding the documents, you are exposed to risks from your employees and criminals who can access the bins and steal information. If you fail to implement secure information handling procedures to avoid data breaches, your business faces a fine of up to £500K under the Data Protection Act. To ensure the safety of your documents and protection against identity theft, have your records destroyed by a professional shredding service. In other words, your business will be more secure, safe, and efficient. This ensures that your documents are safe and you are the only person who can access them.
Enables Productivity
Using the office shredder is safer than throwing your documents in the trash can. When you destroy this information using a machine it will never be available to any other person. The information on the documents is only known to you. However, it takes time to pass the paper through a shredding machine as shredding one file can take several minutes. For complete shredding of paper, you have to:
- Remove staples and paper clips
- Straighten sheets of paper
- Clean paper particles
- Dispose of the shredded paper
- Oil shredder blades
Shredding documents in-house involves your employees attending to the shredder instead of working to generate revenue for the business. For this reason, using a professional shredding service allows your employees to do what they are employed to do.
Safeguards your Reputation
Imagine how your reputation would be destroyed if your customers’ sensitive information landed in the wrongs. To avoid compromising your clients’ and employees’ trust, seek the services of a professional document destruction service. What you take to be a small privacy breach could escalate to an international news headline within a few hours. Every business strives to keep its sensitive information private. When such information is out it can bring a business down in minutes something you have taken years to brand.
Professional shredding of documents safeguards your reputation by offering secure and reliable paper shredding services. Besides the people who destroy the documents are screened to ensure that they can be trusted with the documents. Destruction is done through a strict chain of custody procedures where the process is recorded and locked. Your paper records are transported using GPS-tracked vehicles to a safe shredding plant.
Environmentally Friendly
Many people routinely throw paper in the trash despite it being recyclable. Professional document shredding services put the shredded paper together for pulping and recycling into useful paper products. Since the shredding company knows all recycling procedures, it ensures that your business is compliant with UK environmental legislation. Professional paper shredding can also be a form of Corporate Social Responsibility as it illustrates your commitment to caring for the environment.
Provide Sound Advice
Sometimes you may not know if to keep, store away or shred your documents. Document shredding services can help you establish the right time to get rid of information securely. For instance, your credit card statements can be shredded after 45 days of issuing. But, W2 forms should be kept until the subsequent tax season or for at least a year. Invest in a professional document shredding service to protect the safety of your business, clients, and employees.
It gives you Peace of Mind
Give yourself and your client peace of mind. Have your documents professionally shredded. Most customers have no idea where their sensitive information ends up; therefore, investing in professional shredding services will help build your clients’ trust. Having the trust of your clients will help develop your company’s image.
Shirley Mist has been involved in fashion and design for many years. She has also written extensively for many online publications. She currently writes for The Tribune World and is a valued member of our team.