Why the New Year is the Best Time to Destroy Old Records

Why the New Year is the Best Time to Destroy Old Records

The New Year is widely known as a time of hope and optimism. It marks a clean slate and a fresh
start. It’s out with old and in with the new.

And, along those lines, it also just happens to be the best time of year for getting rid of old business
records. That’s not just because another year’s worth of records can legally be destroyed, but
because keeping them around longer than needed wastes space, increases data security risks, and
potentially increases legal discovery costs.

There’s even a growing risk that unnecessarily stored records violate a host of new state privacy
regulations banning the storage of personal information for longer than necessary.

Maybe the most common thing we think about during the New Year is changing bad habits, and in
that regard, there is no more universal bad habit among organizations than allowing years‘ worth of
unnecessary records to accumulate.

Unfortunately, when all those years of records are finally destroyed, as they will have to be
eventually, there is the possibility that authorities will question why. In fact, there‘s no shortage of
lawsuits where some abrupt destruction of old records is made to appear suspicious. Even if they
were innocently destroyed, auditors, regulators, and opposing lawyers naturally suspect that it was
done to hide something…and too often the courts agree.

When records are destroyed at the beginning of the year, on the other hand, even when records had
not been destroyed for many years, it automatically makes sense. The thinking is, “Of course, the
old records were destroyed; it was the beginning of the year,” and no one thinks twice about it.
Therefore, whether it’s been one year or decades since the last clean out, there is no better time of
year to get this inevitable job out of the way.

Let Shred America Help!

Over the years, Shred America has helped hundreds of organizations meet their annual records
disposal needs. Whether is a mountain or handful of boxes, whether they’re stored in a self-storage
facility or in the attic, we have the manpower, experience, and equipment to do the job quickly and
efficiently.

Contact Shred America today to learn more.

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