Documents You Should Shred But Probably Aren't

11/19/2019

Personal Document Shredding: What Needs to Be Shredded & When

Developing a document retention schedule is crucial to staying compliant with security best-practices and laws and regulations. By using a professional document shredding service such as R4 Services, you can rest assured knowing that state-of-the-art machinery will destroy every bit of information, converting mountains of paperwork into tiny bits of paper, while keeping you safe from liabilities. By thoroughly shredding outdated documents containing financial information, personal info (such as your SSN), any sort of account info, etc. you're protecting yourself and your business from identity theft, legal liabilities and other avoidable headaches. Even some documents, that you don't think should be shredded, should be! This includes junk mail and receipts.

There are many types of documents that all have extremely sensitive information on them that need to be periodically destroyed. But on the other hand, there are some documents that you should keep forever for legal reasons. This all sounds fine and dandy, but when you get right down to it, how do you know: should it stay or should it go?

What Needs to be Shredded

There are some documents that solely exist to provide personal info, but they can be disposed of after a certain length of time. These documents include:

Boarding passes (immediately)
Resumes/hiring documents (if no longer needed)
Shipping labels (immediately)
Bank statements (after 1 year)
Pay stubs (after 1 year)
Bills (after 1 year)
Undisputed, paid medical bills (after 1 year)
Sales receipts (immediately)
Paid utility bills and credit statements (immediately)
Expired warranties (immediately)
Tax receipts (after 7 years)
W-2s (after 7 years)

Documents to Keep

On the other hand, some documents, both personal and business, should be kept forever. Lock them up in a safe place so you can refer to them if you ever need to. These are documents with a lot of personal identity info that will stay relevant as long as you live.

Tax documents
Birth and death certificates
Pension plans
Business licenses
Property deeds (as long as you own it)
Mortgage documents
Social security cards/info
Vehicle titles (as long as you own it)
Loan documents
Insurance policies
IDs and passports
Wills, living wills, power of attorney documents
Marriage and divorce paperwork

Whether your business needs documents stored or shredded, R4 Services will provide you with unparalleled, discreet and confidential services for all of your document needs. Our state-of-the-art document and hard drive shredders allow us to destroy a wide variety of data mediums and our 24-hour secure vault services will keep your most sensitive information in-tact and available the next time you need it.

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Why is Document Destruction So Important?

8/28/2017

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Document destruction is becoming more important as both personal identity theft and corporate identity theft is on the rise. Here are a few reasons why the proper destruction of your documentation is so vital:

Safety
Let's start with the obvious reason: safety. When documents are tossed into a recycling bin intact, the data on that piece of paper becomes vulnerable to anyone who comes in contact with it. A quick scan of a social security number or Employer Identification Number can be all a criminal needs to wreak havoc. When your documents are shredded, the data once present on those documents becomes unusable.

Compliance
Depending on your industry, destroying documents might not only be a smart business practice, but also may be required. Industry regulations exist to ensure that private health or financial information is properly destroyed when it has fulfilled its lifecycle. Many regulatory agencies even require a Certificate of Destruction.

Customer Confidentially
File this one under ethics and customer service. Your customers trust you with very sensitive information about their identity, finances, or personal health. When you can assure your customers that their information is secure with you and will be destroyed when it's no longer relevant, you can gain more respect and potentially generate additional business from new clients via word of mouth.

Frees Up Space
A conference room or closet filled with old paper files is simply a waste of valuable real estate. Think about what you could do with that office space if you were to unload boxes and file cabinets full of out-of-date paperwork!

Reuse
When documents are shredded, it becomes much easier to prepare it for reuse. At R4, we bale and ship shredded material to be converted into new, useable products. Shredding not only makes an impact on your business, but on the environment as well.

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3 Reasons Secure Document Destruction Can Improve Your Organization

8/12/2016

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Customer Confidence
Your clients trust you with their most personal information. For example, in the healthcare industry a client's medical history is very private. And a social security number is standard on many records. So when your customers hand over this sensitive information, they are engaging in an act of trust with you. You can prove you are worthy of this trust by being transparent about your information protection protocols. Let your clients know that once you no longer need their information, all files will be securely destroyed to ensure their privacy.

Reduces Threat of Corporate Identity Theft
It's not just your client's information that you need to protect, but your own company files as well. When documents are tossed in a dumpster or recycling bin, they are still accessible to thieves. However, if your documents are shredded, the information is rendered useless, and your risk of corporate identity theft is gone. And once documents are destroyed, you can still make a positive impact on the environment and recycle the shredded paper.

Meets Compliance Requirements
It is important to understand the legal requirements of HIPAA, Sarbanes-Oxley, and other industry regulations and guidelines when it comes to documentation. We can help you to comply with these requirements, and ensure that sensitive information is safely, confidentially, and completely destroyed. We will also provide a certificate of destruction that guarantees our work.