Shredding provides a secure and efficient way to dispose of documents that are no longer required and which could leave your business vulnerable to a data breach. It is a simple operational process but one that is important for every business for a number of reasons.
Spring is the traditional season for having a good clear out. It’s at this time of year that we tend to want to make space and take steps to be more efficient. Sorting and disposing of your documents is a natural part of this process and can be a great way to improve security and to ensure that you’re not holding on to anything that you don’t really need.
Personal identity theft has reached epic proportions. Around a third of people have already experienced some form of identity theft. The type of data that tends to be targeted is personal data or sensitive information – often precisely the type of data that patients hand over in the medical industry. An on-site shredding policy is one of the easiest ways to help the medical industry to protect the confidentiality of its patients.
If there are two themes that have begun to dominate business discussions in recent times it’s data security and corporate social responsibility (CSR). In the light of recent high profile cases where data has been leaked or compromised, most businesses are now hyper aware of the increasing importance that individuals place on the way that their data is handled. The same is true of CSR, which today has an important role to play in the decisions that consumers make when choosing between brands.
In the digital age in which we live the focus often seems to be on virtual information and data, protecting it and securing it. And, while that certainly plays an important role in ensuring compliant and customer friendly business practices, it’s not the only consideration. We still use large volumes of paper in our daily lives – and particularly in the workplace – which means that paper shredding still has a key role to play for a number of reasons:
We are entering an era of socially responsible business that requires much more investment in ethical values and environmental considerations. Customer trust has been shaken in recent years by scandals that have revealed that some of the most “trusted” brands are actually failing their customers in terms of keeping their promises. So, it’s more important than ever before for businesses to be able to shore up consumer trust – and paper shredding is one very easy way to do it.
Despite the move towards using computers and technology at work on a daily basis, on average, any individual that has a desk-based job uses around 10,000 sheets of paper per annum. This can cover anything from printed reports or employee performance reviews, but the majority of it ends up being discarded ready for recycling, or simply thrown in the bin after use, however this poses serious security concerns under the new GDPR which comes into action in May 2018.
Safe and secure document and media disposal has become an essential part of data management for every business. For Government and Public Sector organisations it is even more crucial to ensure that sensitive data is properly disposed of and does not end up in the wrong hands.
Shredding has become a crucial part of infrastructure for every business today. From helping to ensure that data protection requirements are being met, to enabling a more sustainable business by embracing recycling, there are many ways in which shredding has been employed to help businesses do better. When it comes to business shredding there is usually a simple choice: on-site or off-site. So, which one of these is likely to be right for you?
