April 07, 2022
Keeping private information safe has never been more critical for businesses. Protecting confidential data not only reduces companies’ chances of a data breach but can also help them build and maintain trust with their employees and customers.
Some organizations choose to dispose of confidential documents using traditional blue recycling bins. While these bins may be considered an environmentally friendly disposal option, they also can leave confidential information exposed and at risk, creating a hotbed of opportunity for crime. Improper document management and disposal may leave information exposed, which can be a catalyst for the 106,945 complaints of identity theft and fraud in 2021 reported to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre.
To better understand these risks, it’s important to understand the lifecycle of disposed documents through a traditional “blue bin” and how it compares to the secure document shredding and recycling process with Shred-it.
Nearly every point in the traditional “blue bin” process carries the potential risk of exposing confidential information. The following highlights five areas where vulnerabilities are present.
Eventually, the facility recycles these documents, but businesses have no written documentation of when and where their secure documents were destroyed. While the “blue bin” process helps to protect the environment, it repeatedly exposes confidential information, risking a data breach. These five points of vulnerability highlight the importance of document shredding and establishing proper document destruction procedures.
We designed Shred-it's secure document shredding process with the five points of vulnerability in mind to help ensure confidential information stays safe from the moment a document is first thrown away to the moment it is recycled. Our process includes three simple steps:
Confidential document disposal is not simply about removing unneeded paper waste—it is also about protecting your relationship with your customers, employees, partners, and the community. Proper document shredding policies and procedures protect your organization from the many risks of traditional document disposal.
We follow a six-step security protocol to help keep confidential information safe every step of the way. We require a barcode scan at every touchpoint to track our chain of custody, and Shred-it employees have Certified Information Security Professional designations, which means they undergo rigorous training to learn how to protect confidential information. Our fleets are GPS-tracked so we know where your documents are until their destruction. We also lock our containers and trucks to keep information safe in transit, and our secure, monitored facilities help protect your information before it's destroyed. When the process is finished, we provide customers a Certificate of Destruction to guarantee that we destroyed and recycled your documents.
With Shred-it, you can feel confident that your information is safe at every step of the process and that you are doing your part to help protect the environment. Globally in 2021, we securely shredded and recycled 1.1 billion pounds of paper. This is equal to 9 million trees saved and 1.65 million cubic yards of landfill space saved.
Learn more about our secure document disposal process and secure document shredding options to meet your needs, whether you run a small business or a large healthcare facility.