Recommendations and Guidelines for Records Shredding and Destruction

May 1, 2009

Records shredding and document destruction are critical for a business to maintain confidentiality and security of their information, and should be done by a professional service. Retrievex is a records storage company offering convenient and secure document destruction with their ShredSense process.

Identity theft is on the rise and records shredding and document destruction are excellent ways to avoid being a victim. The Fair and Accurate Credit Transaction Act (FACTA) states that information should not be disposed unless it cannot be identified. And many states are enacting laws that can result in fines if personal information is not secure. Thieves can pick through the trash and retrieve critical information leaving business or personal accounts vulnerable. Information must stay secure avoiding the use of identity and personal information by outsiders.

Documents to be shredded or destroyed in a home or business include anything with social security numbers, drivers license numbers, account numbers, cancelled checks, banking information, credit card numbers, tax returns, medical and insurance information. For a business, it is important also to protect confidential information including financial documents, human resource documents, legal information, client lists, contracts, and inventory reports. There are also recommended guidelines for how long records should be retained before shredding. Note that some documents should be retained permanently including deeds, mortgages, and stocks and bonds records.

Records should be destroyed by a professional destruction contractor, not in-house, for several important reasons. Employees should be focused on their jobs, not the shredding and disposal process, and their safety can be compromised with shredding machines. Employees should also not be aware of all company information, including payroll and employment correspondence not involving them. Regulation and compliance is critical, and using a contracted records shredding company will ensure that it is done accurately.

Shredding and destruction are a highly monitored process. Receptacles used to collect materials to be shredded are locked and coded, and then picked up by secured personnel for destruction. A Certificate of Destruction is provided for auditing and compliance purposes. .

Retrievex provides secure, convenient, and cost effective destruction of important business documents with their ShredSense process. Retrievex.com complies with all FACTA regulations, highly reducing the risk of identity theft.

Bio: Grace Enderlein is a freelance writer and editor. "Recommendations and Guidelines for Records Shredding and Destruction" notes the importance of professional records disposal. Retrievex.com offers document destruction and storage.