The Law
Your organization must comply with laws and regulations, requiring that it protect certain information when it is discarded. An increasing number of laws actually require organizations shred documents or face steep fines. At the federal level, FACTA (Credit Report Info), HIPAA (healthcare) and Gramm-Leach-Bliley (financial) require specific physical safeguards, such as shredding, to meet compliance. Stiff penalties could result!
Your Customer
Whether your customers are consumers concerned about identity theft and privacy, or companies concerned with protecting trade information, you are entrusted with information that they consider to be extremely confidential. In fact, whether you know it or not, you have an "implied contract" to protect that information simply based on the fact that you are collecting the data to conduct business.
They have the legal right to expect you to take every precaution to protect it, including shredding it before it is discarded.
Your Employees
Employees (past and present) have the legal right to have their personal information protected by shredding before it is discarded. Insurance records, accident reports and attendance records are examples of information that legally must be protected.
Corporate Ethics
In this day and age, it is very important that your organization exhibits the highest ethical standards. Casually discarding company information, whether in the form of an individual’s personal information, or company trade information, shows a callous discard for customer and shareholder welfare. It exposes customers to the threat of identity theft and other fraud. It also risks your company losing its trade secret protections in court.
Your Trade Information Rights
The courts have demonstrated many times that they will not recognize trade information protections if a company doesn't take every step to protect the information itself. Casual disposal of information has been the basis for courts to deny trade information rights, which otherwise would have been enforceable. The Supreme Court has ruled you forfeit the right of ownership to discarded information.
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Why Use An Information Destruction Contractor?
- Employees are more productive when focused on their core responsibilities
- Safety- even small machines could cause injury if they grab clothing or accessories
- Reduced capital and employment expenditures
- Employees are most likely to realize the value of discarded company info
- Company info such as payroll, legal and employment issues, and correspondence should not be exposed to most employees
- In-house shredding will not handle large volumes and may prompt employees to circumvent the destruction process
Why Use an
i-ISIGMA Member?
As part of the only organization dedicated to increasing the security and ethics of the information destruction industry, i-SIGMA MEMBERS are bound to a strict code of conduct.
As industry professionals, they take their business and your trust seriously enough to promote i-SIGMA efforts to improve the industry.
i-SIGMA MEMBERS hold themselves to a higher standard.
Information provided by
i-SIGMA |
