How Shredding Protects Against Identity Theft

Businesses in many industries deal with paper records of sensitive information. When this information falls into the wrong hands, it causes harmful effects, including identity theft. Shredding makes documents unreadable and unable to be reconstructed, protecting sensitive information from identity theft.

How Shredding Documents Protects Against Identity Theft

Documents in medical, governmental, legal, financial and insurance industries often contain sensitive information. These details might include:

• Birth dates
• Social security numbers
• Names
• Addresses
• Phone numbers
• Financial record numbers
• Medical information
• Legal information

When people have access to this information, they can use it to steal someone’s identity. Shredding destroys the data, preventing access and misuse.

Legal Requirements and Compliance

While individuals should shred their documents, organizations have a greater responsibility to take appropriate measures to protect their clients’ and employees’ sensitive information. These organizations must comply with information protection regulations like:

• HIPAA: The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) includes requirements that entities dealing with protected health information (PHI) implement appropriate safeguards to protect the privacy of information, including shredding.
• FACTA: The Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACTA) requires that businesses maintaining consumer records take appropriate measures to dispose of sensitive information.
• GLBA: The Gramm Leach Bliley Act (GLBA) holds financial services providers accountable for how they safeguard sensitive information. It includes requirements for safe disposal of information after a certain period.

These regulations have federal and state penalties for noncompliance, including a sum of money paid for each violation. Lack of compliance also means legal fees and reputational damage.

Types of Documents to Shred

Organizations that deal with sensitive consumer information must shred documents to protect this information. The documents you should shred include any containing financial, personal or account information.

Financial information might include tax records, bank statements and pay stubs that financial or accounting firms possess. Medical providers must shred medical records containing sensitive information about patients. Insurance agencies must destroy insurance records with information like policy numbers, claims history and other identifying details.

The time of disposal may vary. Some documents, like tax information, may be kept for several years, while others can be shredded after a much shorter period.

Choose TrueShred for Secure Document Disposal

TrueShred provides on-site professional shredding services for sensitive documents at your business location. These services enable you to witness the shredding process and confine the chain-of-custody to your site. TrueShred also provides Certificates of Destruction to validate compliance with legal obligations and internal control procedures. These services help businesses maintain their compliance with HIPAA, FACTA and GLBA standards.

Reach out online to discuss how TrueShred prevents identity theft through secure document destruction. Feel free to request pricing on our top-quality shredding services.