Tips for Implementing the Right Destruction Solution for Your Business

Identity theft and corporate fraud are on the rise in the UK, organisations are increasingly forced to look at their privacy protection practices. But even with increased awareness and training, otherwise preventable breaches keep occurring, resulting in financial, legal and reputational damage to those affected. Ensuring that the personal data your company uses and maintains doesn’t fall into the wrong hands means choosing a strong and consistent destruction solution.

Minimise internal disruptions and risks within your business

Internal methods for disposing of expired documents can be difficult and risky. Shredding confidential records with consumer standard of shredding machines eats up time and may not thoroughly destroy sensitive data, not to mention the end product not being recyclable. Rather than hindering productivity and increasing privacy breach risks, a destruction solution should enhance efficiency and privacy protection for your organisation.

An outsourced document destruction solution removes the burden of shredding and liability exposure from your staff. Secure containers are placed next to printers and photocopiers, establishing a main hub for secure disposal within your office. Your professional document destruction supplier then empties and destroys the contents of the containers at intervals:

• weekly
• fortnightly
• monthly

A Certificate of Destruction is provided upon the completion of every destruction and verifies that all confidential information was completely destroyed.

Complying with the Data Protection Act

Your business may not be complying with the Data Protection Act on a number of levels. Sensitive personal data may be kept for longer than necessary. This is a common mistake that many organisations make. Documents are kept for longer than necessary with the thought that they may be recalled for legal purposes. Yet as long as the retention principles are rightly and ethically applied and adhered to, you are not required to hold on to files past a final retention date.

Accounting for the entirety of confidential information

Data contained on media other than paper is not exempt from the Data Protection Act. Electronic data contained on hard drives and backup tapes should also be destroyed in a timely and thorough manner. Because of this, a destruction solution should include plans for destroying both paper records and electronic media. Additionally, due to The Waste and Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive (WEEE Directive) enacted in 2007, it is important to use a supplier that can help you maintain directive-specific compliance when disposing of electronic equipment

Although it doesn’t involve personal data, your company also has valuable branded property:

• uniforms
• marketing material
• prototypes
• promotional items

These items should also be securely and completely destroyed. But the often bulky nature of branded corporate material can make disposal challenging. With a turnkey, professional document destruction solution any items that run the risk of being counterfeited and/or misused can be efficiently destroyed alongside paper and electronic records.

Yorshred is able to help your business with its secure shredding needs. We offer onsite shredding and offsite shredding to businesses around Yorkshire. Once our shredding process is completed we provide you with a certificate of destruction. Shredding your business information helps protect you from potential loss of data and fines.