Did you know that one in five data breaches involve paper-based records? Thus, document shredding is important and in fact, it’s a legal requirement for the secure disposal of sensitive data.
How does your business handle document destruction and do you follow a schedule? If you don’t, chances are that you still have some papers that need to be shredded immediately.
Here are a few common examples of document types that you need to process as soon as possible.
Business Document Shredding Essentials: Federal and State Laws
Before looking at the document varieties you need to destroy, let’s examine the legislative framework mandating such actions on your behalf.
There are both federal and state laws pertaining to the destruction of documents containing sensitive data.
Federal laws usually focus on specific industries. The Health Insurance Portability Accountability Act, for example pertains to the destruction of healthcare records that contain personal information about patients. The Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA) pertains to documents managed within the world of finance.
In addition to federal laws, there could also be state legislative frameworks pertaining to data management. In Florida, there’s the Florida Information Protection Act. In Georgia, a similar law imposes fines ranging between 500 and 10,000 dollars for a failure to dispose of records in a secure way.
Do check local regulations and make sure you’re compliant. Otherwise, you may have to handle some hefty fines.
Now, let’s talk about the types of documents that have to be shredded as soon as you’re done with them.
Bank and Financial Statements
While readily available in a digital format, bank and financial statements will sometimes have to be printed.
If such documents end up in the wrong hands, they could pose serious security risks to the organization.
Secure document shredding is absolutely essential for all financial records that aren’t being used anymore. Even in the case of using digital financial statements, it may be a good idea to consider professional redaction in order to protect the most sensitive data.
Pay Slips
Pay slips contain lots of personal information that your employees would need you to protect.
Some of the sensitive types of data featured in such documents include personal details, bank and taxation information. All of these copies have to be destroyed as soon as you’re no longer legally required to maintain those records.
I-9 Forms
These forms are used to affirm the identity of an employee. It’s easy to see how such information can be considered sensitive and why timely document shredding would be essential.
As per US regulations, I-9 forms have to be maintained within your business records for a period of one to three years following the termination of an employee.
The I-9 form can be very dangerous if it gets in the wrong hands. It features all of the information required to commit identity theft.
Tax Records
Just like financial records, tax records need to be handled meticulously and with care due to their sensitive nature.
Retention guidelines suggest that tax records have to be maintained within an archive for a period of three years. As soon as this timeframe expires, document shredding should be employed to prevent the loss of sensitive financial and business-related data.
Legal Documents and Contracts
Here’s an interesting and important point to make – you have to shred contracts that are no longer active or in need of retention. There are several reasons why agreements and other types of legal documents have to be shredded as soon as possible.
Business contracts are confidential documents that only the parties involved in the interaction should have access to.
Very often, contracts contain personal and proprietary business information, as well as financial details that shouldn’t be revealed.
Even if you need to maintain contracts for reference purposes in the future, you can get them scanned and create electronic copies within a well-protected digital archive. When this process is completed, all paper copies have to be destroyed.
Records Containing HR and Medical Information
Lots of documents within the realm of human resources contain sensitive details, even medical information about your employees.
This is why the HR team has to be extra-careful with document retention and destruction schedules. There should never be a compromise with such timeframes. Not only can an error lead to company issues during an audit, much more dire consequences would result from the eventual theft of HR documentation.
These are just a few examples of document types that have to be destroyed regularly and without a delay. Obviously, there are many other types of papers you’ll need to handle with care. Some of the information is industry-specific, which is why you need to review your current retention policies and identify potential weaknesses. Getting those eliminated immediately will contribute to better data management, peace of mind and flawless execution of retention requirements.