Most of the company documents hold very sensitive and confidential information.
And the need to destroy them under controlled and confidential conditions is essential. This increases compliance and also prevents data breaches. The method of disposition is usually determined by document type.
Key Takeaways
- Disposition must be controlled and confidential.
- Disposition is the final stage of the document lifecycle.
- Discarding is only suitable for non-confidential documents.
- Shredding is essential for confidential and sensitive documents.
- Disposition method is defined by the document type.
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Methods of Disposition
1. Discarding
Non- confidential documents can be discarded, though shredding and recycling is always better option. This reduces risk and sustainability support.
Discarding entails getting rid of the documents by throwing away documents that are no longer required, with no security measures in place. This is done when the documents have reached their retention period.
2. Shredding
In shredding confidential and sensitive documents are processed under strict security. This can be done internally or through secure on-site shredding by a third-party vendor who provides a certificate of destruction.
There are different shredding levels. The more sensitive the documents, the higher the level of shredding security is required.
The shredded documents is then recycled
3. Archiving
Archiving is done for documents requiring long-term or permanent preservation.
Archiving is a governance activity that ensures critical documents remain authentic, accessible, readable and secure overtime.
Records of legal, fiscal, administrative or historical value are retained permanently for future purposes.
Archiving vs Storage Vs Backup.
Archiving is long term and policy-driven to preserve records for long term value.
Storage is short term holding of inactive documents.
Backup is a holding of disaster recovery copies not for retention purposes.
4. Imaging
In Imaging, physical documents are converted to digital images. Original paper documents are then destroyed according to the company’s retention and disposal policy.
This also helps companies dispose of paper documents minimizing compliance risks and improving access.
Imaging reduces physical storage costs and reduces paper clutter.
Imaging improves document retrieval speed, and this increases business continuity.
Imaging also enhances data security through controlled digital access.
It supports compliance and enables disaster recovery.
How it Works
Physical documents are sorted, classified and verified against the company’s retention and disposal policy.
Documents are the scanned.
Key metadata is then applied to make documents searchable.
Images are verified for quality in terms of clarity, completeness and accuracy.
Securely stored with access control.
Certified and approved
Destruction of originals.
5. Purging
Purging is the process where permanent deletion is done on digital documents once they reach the end of retention period.
Purging is done on digital documents. Here, the digital documents that have reached the retention period are automatically eliminated from the system. The deletion is automated in adherence to a company’s retention and disposal policy, and this can be tracked.
How it Works
Each document is assigned a retention schedule at the point of creation or ingestion.
The system continuously monitors as per the policy.
Once the retention period expires and legal, audit and compliance risks cleared, the system automatically deletes without human intervention.
Conclusion
The disposition of your documents will be determined by the type of document, whether digital or physical. And whether the documents are sensitive and confidential or non-confidential.