Should you dump personal mails into company shred boxes

#Should you dump personal mails into company shred boxes professional#
#Should you dump personal mails into company shred boxes free#

Hiring a Professional Paper Shredder Service to Destroy Paper and Sensitive Documents This could add additional risks in terms of a security leak or identity theft. The downside is that you may have to save sensitive information or keep it around for a long period of time while waiting for a paper shredding event to occur. Typically, this method of destruction is a good idea because documents are destroyed using professional crosscut paper shredders and mixed around with other pieces of shredded material.

#Should you dump personal mails into company shred boxes free#

Many local businesses offer free paper shredding events for customers around town, including banks, credit unions and recycling companies. But, again, this method of destruction takes a long time and wonвЂ™t do anything to protect you or your business from an information breach. Confidential data, like an employeeвЂ™s social security number or anything with sensitive financial information, can also be destroyed using a hole punch. However, this method of destruction is very tedious and not secure, especially since it isnвЂ™t hard for identity thieves to reconstruct separate sections of documents. Cutting or Shredding By HandДЇor small amounts of shredding, paper can be torn by hand or destroyed with multi-cut scissors, which function like a cross-cut shredder. Certain types of paper, like ones with toxic glossy coatings, are not suitable for composting as well. While composting may seem like an eco-friendly option, itвЂ™s not a secure form of document destruction and itвЂ™s very time-consuming. Similar to the burn method, documents should be shred before composting and the material must be mixed very well into the pile to not upset the carbon and nitrogen balance. Like food scraps, coffee filters and other organic material, unwanted paper can be added to a compost pile where it will slowly breakdown over time. Once the documents have fully disintegrated, the water will need to be pressed from the pulp before it can be disposed of. To be effective, papers must soak in a plastic trash can with a water and bleach solution for a few days, then mixed together to break the documents into a pulp.

Soaking confidential documents in water for a long enough period of time is another way to render information unreadable, but this type of destruction does require patience, adequate space and it can be messy. Once the fire is safely put out, itвЂ™s important to check the ashes to be sure that readable sections arenвЂ™t left behind, which could be easily reconstructed by identity thieves. This process is also time-consuming since documents still need to be torn into smaller pieces before being fed into the fire to ensure that intact papers fully burn and donвЂ™t blow away. First of all, open-air burning is not allowed in most cities and municipalities, including Toronto, unless a permit has been issued and these arenвЂ™t always possible to obtain. Incinerating sensitive documents in a furnace, fire pit or metal trash drum may seem like a quick and easy way to dispose of a large amount of paper, but it does come with important considerations. Methods of Document Destruction Burning Paper in a Fire Pit But, not all forms of destruction are effective or recommended, especially when it comes to protecting confidential information from identity thieves. When looking for ways to discard a large amount of paper, there are many approaches to document destruction and a quick online search will reveal inventive solutions that donвЂ™t require the use of a paper shredder.

Sensitive documents, whether they include financial records, legal or medical reports, social security numbers or personal information, must be properly destroyed to protect information from illegal or unethical use. But when retention periods expire and itвЂ™s time to destroy unwanted files, itвЂ™s not as simple as throwing file boxes in the trash or recycling bin. Businesses and households amass vast amounts of documents, which must be kept for a certain amount of time.