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Home » Protecting your personal information: things to know before destruction

Protecting your personal information: things to know before destruction

         

    By Hellen Lubanga

    Destroying documents with sensitive information goes beyond buying a shredder for your papers. By DIY-ing your shredding, you expose yourself to risks such as exposure of personal information and data leaks. The most secure way to ensure you destroy personal information is by entrusting the process with professionals.

    Your document destruction needs depend wholly on your needs and can fall within the following service types.

    1. On-site/ mobile shredding

    When you hire an external company to carry out the destruction of your documents you have the option of onsite shredding. This means the document shredding is done at your premises or business location and then transported once everything is destroyed. The paper tends to be mixed to ensure nobody can piece the documents together and thereby gaining access to your personal information.

    You also have the option of delegating a company member to oversee the destruction process to ensure all data is securely eliminated.

    2. Off-site shredding

    Off-site shredding refers to when document destruction professionals collect all documents meant to be shredded and carry them off location to be destroyed. This works well if documents do not have any sensitive data such as passwords or health histories or are not overly voluminous.

    Expert shredders are always willing to sign a Non-disclosure agreement and carry out the shredding quickly to reduce risks of data leaks. You can also ask for proof such as a certificate of destruction in case further assurance is needed.

    3. Drop-off shredding

    As the name suggests drop-off shredding services refer to the act of transporting over documents that need to be destroyed to document destruction companies. This form of document destruction is very popular among SMEs who do not have as heavy a destruction need as their larger counterparts. Such companies prefer to select times when the services are really needed rather than have frequent drop-offs. They also prefer to drop off services as they tend to cost less than contractual document destruction contracts.

    4. Media shredding

    Your information exists beyond paper trails. Living in the modern age your data probably exists on computer hard drives, CDs, Sim Cards, Flash disks among other digital platforms. It is for this reason you need experts to ensure that this data is destroyed in ways that cannot be regenerated or recovered.

    Media shredding is more often than not done on-site and covers all types of electronics and not just those used for communication. Such as Debit and Credit cards, ATM machines, Points of Sale and Fax machines,

    Now that we Are aware of the types of document destruction it is clear that outsourcing the services is the better option.  Not only are you assured of total elimination of the data but you also do not have to use up Company time destroying documents.

    When you’re ready to shred your documents, simply bring them over to Cadtech Services limited, or have us pick them up. Your documents will be securely stored while transported and destroyed promptly. We also offer the option of one-time shredding services or routine pickups, so you can work with whatever suits your needs best.

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