The Benefits of Information Destruction Policies and Procedures

The Benefits of Information Destruction Policies and Procedures

In this blog, we’re going to explain how easy it is to achieve the benefits that come from having
information destruction policies and procedures and how Shred America can help at little or no
cost. 

When it comes to secure information destruction, most organizations want to do the right thing.
They want to protect personal and competitive information from unauthorized access, and, of
course, they want to comply with a growing number of data protection and privacy regulations. 

To accomplish this, most organizations find a secure information destruction service. Thankfully,
many of them know that they can’t hire just any service provider, which is why they so often end
up using Shred America.

The next step is to let everyone know that anything that needs to be shredded goes in the
secure collection containers located around the office.

That’s not a bad thing, and it is certainly much better than doing nothing. On the other hand,
creating written policies and procedures with a little help from Shred America can make it even
better.

Here’s how:

1. Regulatory Compliance: Every data protection regulation requires organizations to have
written data protection policies and procedures. They require them first, because they
show the organization is taking its responsibility seriously and, second, so that
organizations have a way of explaining to employees what is expected of them. And,
although they specifically deal only with one area of information protection, it is the area
where information is most vulnerable and where every employee has the opportunity to
put the organization at risk.

1. A Compliance Failsafe: Regulators understand that organizations can’t control
employees who ignore their training. It’s why HIPAA was amended in 2009 to hold
employees specifically responsible for non-compliance. What regulators do not tolerate
is discovering that the organization provided no training. In other words, if the
organization cannot show it provided the training, it is held fully responsible, even
willfully negligent. 

Training is only possible if the information destruction policies and procedures are
documented. 

1. Consistency: Believe it or not, left to their own devices, different departments and
geographic locations of an organization commonly end up with different data destruction
processes. This difference means that some will be more secure than others. These
varying degrees of security can not only result in risky disposal practices, but should
there be a failure, the fact that other more secure measures were used elsewhere
magnifies the level of negligence.

Written data destruction policies and procedures put everyone on the same page.
Shred America Can Help!

Our clients focus on what they do best. That’s why they’re successful.

At Shred America, we do too. We concentrate on secure information destruction like no one
else, and we know it backward and forward. 

As a result, we have the experience and in-house acumen to help our clients create written
policies and procedures that make them compliant with regulations, lower the consequences of
a mistake, and establish consistency across all departments and operations.

Contact Shred America today to learn more.

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