Every business collects sensitive information, and although many of today’s businesses are shifting over to storing their data electronically, there are still many worldwide that store their files as paper copies. Correctly disposing of your business documents is vital for several reasons, one of the main reasons is to avoid identity theft.
Millions of people every year are at risk of identity theft, and the most common reason it occurs is the improper disposal of personal documentation. Any document with personal details, like birth dates, addresses, and even signatures, needs to be shredded, as this is the only real way to assure that the likelihood of your client’s identities being stolen is a small percentage.
If you’re a business that deals with a large amount of financial transactions, copies of your clients’ credit and debit card details will be somewhere within your document stores, and after a while, these files become pointless to hold on to, and need to be properly destroyed. By doing this, you’re protecting your clients, and yourself. If your client’s identity is stolen, you’ll know that it isn’t due to your own negligence, because you’ll have a record of having properly shredded their paperwork.
It’s also a legal necessity. Legislation regarding privacy and security is getting increasingly severe, and it is harshly enforced. There are multiple penalties for businesses that don’t properly dispose of sensitive documents; you have a legal duty to protect all of your clients’ information, no matter much documentation of theirs you have.