Keep or Shred - How do you Protect your Privacy?

When one refers to the concept of data security today they will almost always mean digital information, but paper documentation still needs to be protected. Strangely, printed documents pose just as much of a threat to cybersecurity as any file ever will, and most people don’t even consider the paper information when they’re trying to improve their enterprise security. The big question, is what you should take care of with DestroyIt shredders and what should you keep?

The Importance of Shredding Policies

In any business, having a good shredding policy in place is of the utmost importance but if you are here, reading this, then you do not need us to tell you that. The number of businesses that seem to have no policies in place for the disposal of paperwork is absolutely astounding, and it may surprise you even further to know that there are quite a few businesses that have admitted to ‘losing’ confidential or sensitive documents. Normally this loss does not come from the top; employees are one of the most common reasons for which documents are lost or misplaced, which makes the need for competent management and policies all the more important. If you own a small to medium-sized business, you need to know what you should be shredding and most importantly, what you should be keeping. We’ll start by talking about the papers that you should be keeping.

Papers to Keep

The following papers should never see the jaws of DestroyIt paper shredders:

-Capital Stocks Paperwork

-Financial Statements

-Pension Records/Information

-Trademarks or Copyrights

These documents are all very important, and as you are not going to shred them, you should make sure that they are properly secured in a locked file cabinet.

Documents to Shred

Arguably, the following documents should be kept around for a time, but ultimately, they need to be shredded to ensure the security of your business. We are going to list the type of document, and then the amount of time that you should hold onto it.

Tax Documents – 3-6 Years

Employee Documents (W-4, I-9, etc) – 4+ Years

Healthcare Related Paperwork – 5-6 Years or as Law Dictates

Contracts – 6 Years Following Termination

While all these documents do need to be taken care of at some point, you should make sure that you are consulting an attorney if you are unsure as to whether or not yours should be shredded. Naturally, you will have an instinct to save these files but minimizing the number of paper documents that you have on hand will reduce risks and it will save you a considerable amount of space.

Documents to Shred Right Away

The documents that we have listed above should be taken care of as directed and you should shred essentially anything else. This includes documents that contain information on customers employees, insider information, and anything else that could easily undermine your company. A lot of important and critical information is kept on the papers that you leave around your office – make sure that it doesn’t cause a problem. Just remember to ask yourself the most important question of all: “Will this paper come in handy down the road?”. If the answer is no, shred it.

Get the Best Hardware for the Job

If you are going to shred your documents effectively then you need to make sure you have the best equipment for the job. DestroyIt shredders are some of the best on the market, handling large volumes without overheating, and giving you the upper hand with your mounting pile of paperwork. Browse our store today and make sure you have exactly what you need to start shredding.