Why You Need an On Site Shredding Service

Every office should have an on site shredding service. This on site shredding service can be a service that is available during all business hours or it can be an off site paper shredding service that has scheduled shredding times throughout the week. With identity theft at an all time high, on site shredding services are extremely important. Businesses can benefit from these services for the following reasons.

Reduction in identity theft cases

Although the internet gets a lot of the bad reputation for identity theft cause, much of it actually comes from paper documents. It is estimated that 95% of business information is still stored on paper. Paper information is easier to obtain and more difficult to track. People also tend to be more careless with their confidential paper documents. They simply crumble up documents with important information and throw them out. The documents can then be retrieved from the garbage and the theft is never tracked down. On site shredding services can remind employees to properly shred confidential documents.

Increase in recycling efforts

Paper that is thrown out is never recycled. Yet, placing paper in a recycling bin that has not been shredded can be dangerous. Documents that contain confidential information including names, addresses, credit card information, social security numbers, medical information, and legal information can be used with harmful intent. Paper shredding is extremely important in keeping personal and business information safe, secure, and confidential. When you offer on site shredding services within your business, you are encouraging safe and confidential recycling efforts.

Protection from lawsuits

Some businesses are required to properly dispose of customer?s confidential information. Any business that has payment information, medical records, or legal records can actually get into trouble if they do not properly store and dispose of this information. Doctors and health insurance providers, especially, are legally tasked with document shredding duties. Because their patients? and clients? information is so sensitive, state and federal laws dictate that all medical organizations have comprehensive data destruction plans. An on site document shredding service can ensure that you are following all state and federal laws, also protecting you from a lawsuit.

Increase in customer trust

When a data or security breach is reported, customers lose trust in that business. This is common in internet breaches. Recently, many retailers suffered a severe internet data breach. In the months that followed, consumers chose different stores and sales significantly reduced. Smaller to medium sized businesses may never recover from a large scale data of document breach. Once the customer loses its trust in a business, it is extremely difficult to get it back. Encouraging document shredding company services on site increases customers overall trust with the company.

Thorough disposal of confidential information

While many companies take some steps to protect customer?s confidential information, most do not take enough caution. For example, if you use both paper and data storage, it is not enough to protect just one source. If you store your information on a hard drive, you will also require hard drive shredder services. Most people have access to shredding machines, but now hard driver shredders or trusted document scanning services. Outsourcing your on site shredding services ensures that you have a thorough method of disposing of all customer information.

Surprisingly, the majority of identity theft today still occurs in paper form. As a business owner, proper disposal of customer?s confidential information should be a priority. When you have a secure disposal process in place, you have a reduction in identity theft cases, are practicing environmentally friendly practices, and are increasing your customers trust with the business. You are also reducing your chances of a lawsuit, which could be damaging for some businesses.