Myths About Professional Shredding Services Revealed

Since the introduction of professional shredding of sensitive documents within the past decade or so, many myths and misconceptions have arisen. The most common ones have been listed below, along with the facts surrounding them.

1.  Only large companies have confidential documents to shred - Any sized company risks identity theft and should, therefore, shred sensitive documents. Many more documents than we realize contains sensitive information and can be used in a malicious way.



  2.  It costs less to use an office shredder than it does to hire a shredding company - When all costs are taken into consideration, buying, using, and maintaining an office shredder costs just about the same as hiring a professional shredding service. On an average, 15 minutes of staff time are eaten up every day shredding confidential documents. When you consider the average hourly wage, plus benefits, and factor in depreciation and maintenance costs on the shredder, it costs over $95 per month to operate an office shredder. These figures add up to nearly twice as much as regularly scheduled, on-site shredding service.


3.  Using an office shredder is just as secure as using a shredding service - When employees use an office shredder, they tend to use a smaller bin or container for the final shredded material. If the shredded documents are bagged up and thrown into the recycling in small bags, identity thieves may be able to piece the sensitive documents back together.

4.  An information security breach can’t happen to us - Information security breaches have occurred in almost every conceivable industry.  According to the non-profit watchdog group, PrivacyRights.org, since they began tracking data breaches in January, 2005 there have been, on an  average, 68 million confidential records compromised per year.


5.  Recycling confidential documents is just as secure as shredding - If sensitive documents are thrown into the recycling instead of destroyed prior to disposal, the risk of identity theft rises exponentially. Paper received at recycling centers is sorted and baled based on paper type.  White office paper has the highest value of all recyclable paper. This paper is then baled and sent to a buyer,  possibly overseas.  That means your confidential information can be compromised at any point in their process.

Many myths surround important services and processes. Sometimes myths are started as scare tactics or to put people at ease so they feel they don't need important services, such as document destruction.  For more information on sensitive document destruction, visit www.wasteawaygroup.com.

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