When you have old tax returns, financial records, medical information, bank statements, employee files, or other confidential paperwork to destroy, dropping everything off at an office supply or shipping store may seem like an easy solution.
It can also be inexpensive. Some retail locations offer shredding for less than $1 per pound.
But before handing over your sensitive documents, there is an important question you should ask:
Are my documents being shredded right now, or are they simply being stored until someone else comes to shred them?
Drop-Off Shredding May Not Mean Immediate Shredding
At many retail drop-off shredding locations, the store itself does not actually shred your documents while you are there. Instead, your paperwork may be placed into a locked collection container and held until a shredding provider picks it up.
That creates an additional period of time between the moment you surrender your documents and the moment they are actually destroyed.
Even when a container is locked, your information still exists.
That matters because confidential documents can contain Social Security numbers, account information, medical records, signatures, customer information, employee records, passwords and other data that could potentially be used for identity theft or fraud.
A locked collection container provides a level of protection, but it is not the same thing as watching your documents being shredded.
Why Take an Unnecessary Chance?
Consider what could happen if a collection container holding confidential documents were stolen during a burglary. The thieves wouldn’t need to steal computers or break into a database—they could potentially walk away with hundreds of pounds of paperwork containing personal and confidential information.
You may never know exactly what was inside that container or who eventually gained access to it.
For a few pounds of relatively unimportant paperwork, a drop-off service may seem convenient. But if you are destroying documents because the information is confidential, it makes sense to choose a shredding method that gives you greater control over the process.
A Better Option: Watch Your Documents Get Shredded
If you have more paper than you can reasonably handle with a home or office shredder, look for a professional shredding company that offers on-site document shredding.
With FileShred, we come directly to your home or business. Your documents are placed into one of our secure shredding bins, taken to our mobile shredding truck and destroyed right at your location before we leave.
You can even watch the shredding process.
There is no wondering whether your documents are sitting somewhere waiting to be destroyed. Once the service is completed, they’re shredded.
Free Community Shredding Events Are Another Good Option
You can also look for community shredding events sponsored by banks, credit unions, municipalities and other organizations. Many of these events bring a mobile shredding truck directly to the event so documents can be destroyed on-site.
They may be free, although there are often limits on how many boxes or bags each person can bring.
The important thing is to determine when and where your documents are actually being shredded.
When It Comes to Confidential Information, Know Where Your Paper Goes
Don’t choose a shredding option based solely on price per pound. Ask what happens to your documents after you hand them over.
Are they shredded immediately? Can you witness the destruction? Who handles them? How long are they stored before destruction?
At FileShred, we believe secure document destruction should be simple and transparent. We offer on-site shredding for homes and businesses, and you can watch your confidential documents being destroyed right at your location.
If the information is important enough to shred, it’s important enough to make sure it actually gets shredded.
