It can seem like a great idea to save you time and money. Picking up and using your typical office shredder in your home or workplace. Why bother paying to do this when you’re handling it all fine by yourself? The right papers are being shredded on time, the shredded material is being recycled properly, and secure retention is being executed. You’re as safe as you can be, aren’t you?
If this is your approach to shredding, then you’re going to be in for a shock, as you’re far more vulnerable than you think. There are unforeseen expenses that will rack up over time, the actual shredding isn’t secure, and you’ll have a hard time proving proper compliance with privacy regulations. A professional shredder will take care of this for you, ensuring your peace of mind. Let’s have a look at each point first.
Unforeseen Expenses
While an office shredder may initially seem like the cheaper option, you are in fact getting exactly what you pay for. The motors in these machines are not up to the job of long-term shredding, and will often burn out, leaving you with a pricey paperweight. Should you choose to spend a little more the first time for a higher quality shredder, you may get more time out of it, but in the end, it’ll suffer the same fate.
That’s all just the shredder itself. This doesn’t take into effect the additional costs of making sure you have proper retention methods for storing papers. All costs ad up over time, and in the end you’ll be out more by going it alone.
Unsecured Shredding
So what exactly do we mean by “unsecured shredding”? What we are referring to here is the actual shred pattern itself. Most office shredders tend to shred papers into long, thin strips, which are easily reconstructed. Anybody with too much time on their hands and a degree of dedication could sift through the remains and rebuild each page, and then they have all the information you tried to destroy. The more expensive units can shred more securely but see back to our points on unforeseen expenses. Professional shredding reduces papers to fine confetti, making reconstruction completely impossible.
Privacy Compliance
Keeping up with all the privacy regulations you are under can be difficult, especially if you have an operation across multiple states. While you need to know this, a professional shredder can help you prove that you are staying in compliance. When you have shredded records with a professional, you will receive a certificate of destruction, an official document that proves you have completed your shredding.
When you don’t meet compliance, or can not prove it, you will be in some trouble. A loss of trust with your client base is only the start if you have clients. Fines may be leveled against you for violating your compliance requirements. Should a data breach occur, and you have been found out, or be unable to prove, your shredding efforts, you’ll be facing massive damage that may takes years to recover from. Assuming you can recover from the damage, to begin with.
We’re Here To Help
If we’ve managed to convince you, or if you have some questions, get in touch with us. We’ll help you out with your needs and close as many vulnerabilities as possible.
