Shred on Site

Businesses generate vast volumes of data every day. Whether that relates to customers, suppliers or employees, the question always remains: what do you do with your data? Some people choose to store it but this can be increasingly onerous in terms of security and compliance. The other option is to confidentially shred your data.

Why would you store your data?

The reality is that most businesses will need to do a combination of storing and shredding data. Some data must be retained and if you’re going to commit to this then you need to make sure that you have the right infrastructure in place to do it. That should include:

• Creating a plan for the data that you hold. If you’re storing data then you should have a retention plan in place that is tailored to the type of data you’re holding, whether it’s customer details, HR records or corporate plans and strategies.
• Implementing security for data that you’re storing, whether that’s something as simple as an interdepartmental memo or employee records. The level of security necessary will depend on whether your business is a processor or a controller of data (as defined by data protection regulation the GDPR). A key part of this will be ensuring that data is not carelessly disposed of.
• Storing and destruction cycles. It’s really important to have oversight on how long you’re going to keep data for and what happens to it at the end of its life cycle. For example, you may be obligated to hold on to data for statutory retention periods. Most documents will need to be destroyed at the end of their life cycle and general waste or recycling simply isn’t the place for this.

What about shredding data?

When your documents reach the end of their lifecycle it’s vital to have a destruction plan in place to protect the data within them - shredding is always going to be the best way to do this. Partnering with a professional shredding service, especially where there is the option to shred your documents on site, has a number of advantages:

• Accredited, checked and ensured for high standards.
• Documents never leave the premises so there is no risk of theft or loss during shredding transport.
• Quick, efficient and reliable. You can plan for document destruction and know it will be carried out as and when agreed.
• A tailored service to fit you, whether that is a once a year clear out of all obsolete documents or a data shredding service that you require on a regular basis.
• A sustainable process. When you opt for a service like Shred on Site, none of your paper waste ends up in a landfill - instead, it is recycled into paper products. The transport used for shredding is also operated in the most sustainable way and routes optimised to ensure that carbon footprint is as low as possible.

Most businesses will need to store at least some data. However, the requirement to safely dispose of any data-rich documents means that shredding will always be part of the process at some point.

Get in touch with us today to request a quote for all your shredding needs, whether that’s a one-off service or setting up a regular service. Why not try our online tool.