Why destruction of media is important after use
In a world where digitisation is growing and the use of paper is widely declining for many business processes, data is being stored more on hardware such as hard drives, CDs, and DVDs, as well as USB memory sticks or even in specific industries things like X-Rays. All of these media can hold confidential information, that is vital to your business or private information belonging to customers and contacts.
Adverse effects of ineffective destruction
In the event that this media is not destroyed sufficiently to prevent data from being recoverable, data breaches can occur whereby confidential data is shared publically or misused by unauthorised personnel. This can lead to significant consequences as a business, such as negative public image (large companies are more likely to experience high levels of media coverage too), legal prosecution for failing to stick to Data Protection Laws and to protect their customers’ information, as well as loss of revenue due to long term brand damage.
Requirements of the Data Protection Act
The Data Protection Act requires companies to guarantee that all data is kept up to date, but disposed of when no longer required. It must be kept secure at all times and only shared with the necessary and agreed parties. Data must only be used for the given purposes, and not shared with third parties. A large part of this is ensuring that all media containing secure data is sufficiently destroyed as soon as it is no longer required.
Ways to ensure complete media destruction
Complete media destruction can be done in two ways – physical and non-physical. Non-physical examples include degaussing and binary wiping. Physical examples include shredding, crushing and granulating, amongst other methods. The most important thing is that the media is destroyed sufficiently to prevent information being used after it is destroyed.
Destruction of media benefits customers and your business
Shred-on-Site offer media shredding services to our customers to help them to maintain a compliant and secure environment. This will allow them to build trusting client relationships and to manage their data in-house efficiently.
Whether you require media destruction services, or have paper shredding requirements in-house, give Shred on Site a call today on 0800 181 4106.
Author: Mark Coombes, Follow me on Google+