The Importance of Shredding Confidential Documents

The Importance of Shredding Confidential Documents

Whether it is your business sensitive information or your clients’, keeping confidential information secure is important. Keeping these sensitive documents that are no longer of use can create the risk of a potential data breach.

If you have confidential documents in your office that are no longer of use, it is important to sort them from the rest and shred them to ensure they are properly destroyed. A data breach can put your business at risk as well as damage your reputation. In this blog, we are going to review reasons why shredding confidential should be one of your top priorities.

1. It is the law

According to the Data Protection Act, confidential waste, like personal address, bank statements, medical records, and salary details have to legally be correctly disposed of. Before throwing them away or recycling them, these sensitive documents need to be shredded.

2. Identity Theft Protection

Identity theft is becoming a problematic crime with people searching through trash cans and bins to extract personal, confidential details about others. For instance, if a criminal were to get someone's personal address information, it would be much easier to apply for a credit card under that person's name.

3. Saves Time

Cutting up documents yourself takes up valuable time. Plus, you face the risk of stinging paper cuts. Shredding these documents is a fast and simple way to dispose of confidential papers which are no longer needed.

4. Data Remains Confidential

Business documents can contain a wide range of information, from Friday morning meeting notes to staff details, sales figure, and other sensitive information. Shredding these documents will give your business the peace of mind that their confidential waste and sensitive information won’t get into the wrong hands.

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5. It’s Easier To Recycle

Most companies are eager to showcase their environmental contributions and recycling paper is one way for companies to show their clients and customers that they care about the environment. Shredding documents makes recycling much easier as the shredded paper can easily be bagged up and brought to a recycling bin or collected by a recycling company.

6. Saves Storage Space

Some businesses may still be hanging onto papers and documents which are from years ago and no longer needed, but they are not sure how to properly get rid of them. Paper can take up a ton of space on your desk or in the drawers of your filing cabinets, so by shredding these, you can free up a significant amount of space.

7. Keeping Papers Is a Fire Hazard

Having papers stacked around the office can create an extreme fire hazard. Shredding sensitive documents and then recycling them helps to ensure that companies only keep the necessary documents and remove the fire hazard that stacks of paper create.

8. Ensures Consumer Trust

If your business shreds confidential documents with details about your customers and clients then you can increase the trust these people have in your company. By shredding documents and ensuring that your clients and customers know you take this preventative measure, they can be confident that their data is being treated securely and with respect.

As you can see, there are plenty of benefits of shredding confidential documents. If you don’t have a way to shred sensitive documents, a shredder rental is a great option. If you want to rent a shredder for your business, contact Business Equipment Rentals.