We can all agree that in a professional or office environment, things can get problematic if you have too many papers all around you.
Being overloaded with a bunch of hard copies means that it is much better to digitalize everything and shred them as soon as you scan and upload them on the cloud.
It does not matter whether the information is sensitive or not, because uploading it is the first step, while shredding will help you destroy it so that no one could use it afterward against you.
Another critical consideration that under the Data Protection Act (click here to learn more about it) and other regulations depending on the country, it is much better to dispose of documents efficiently and safely.
Let us see the general reasons why you should shred your documents and the benefits of doing so.
Reasons to Destroy Your Documents by Shredding Them
We can differentiate numerous reasons why you should shred your documents instead of leaving them be. We created a list that will help you determine everything about this particular process and why finding the proper shredding company is essential for the future of your business.
1. You Can Discard Confidential Data
It is vital to understand that regularly discarding the relevant and problematic data is critical for protecting your business in the long run.
We are talking about sales statistics, price lists, bids and proposals, correspondence between customers and clients, email lists, contact info, and memos that may cause the problem if someone steals them.
Remember that corporate espionage is a common problem that happens in almost every single industry. Therefore, being monitored by the competitors is the standard problem you need to solve to remain on the market.
Check out this link: https://www.thebalance.com/shred-mail-identity-theft-1947644 to learn the importance of data shredding.
That is the main reason why improper disposal of paper documents and hard drives can lead to severe consequences to your business in general.
2. You Should Destroy Sensitive Documents
Every single business has to deal with sensitive data on a regular basis. Of course, you need to keep the documents for some years due to audits and tax purposes. However, you have to make sure that you keep sensitive documents by following the legal requirements.
As soon as the retention period passes, you should destroy everything and leave no record of their existence. In case you neglect the importance of destroying documents, numerous problems may happen along the way.
For instance, if your exhibit nonexistent and suspicious disposal practices, the audit will knock on your doors and cause negative consequences to your business. Remember that in case of a lawsuit, you should provide the relevant records within 85 days.
If you do not do it, you will create havoc for your business. However, if you follow the limit and destroy the information regularly, no one will be able to use this information against you because you complied with the law.
On the other hand, if you shred it in Charlotte, NC, after you receive a lawsuit that will affect your general situation.
The best way to assess numerous risks that may happen in the corporate world is to destroy the documents by following the set of regulations that will help you throughout the process.
3. Avoid Keeping Regular Business Records
Numerous significant corporations or businesses come with the risk of being monitored by identity thieves and competitors.
That is the main reason why you should avoid this particular problem by placing daily records as well as memos such as drafts of bids, misprints, phone messages as well as other vital data that others can use against you.
Instead of suffering consequences due to negligence and the inability to destroy the data, you should do it as soon as you legally can to prevent further issues. It means that you will assess the potential exposure that may cause damage to your company and your market success.
4. Avoid Recycling
The idea you should know is that the recycling companies tend to keep people on minimal wages to extract paper, which means that competitors can quickly pay them to give the sensitive information you shared.
It is vital to avoid severe issues that may happen by offering to other people or services your papers unless you plan to destroy them along the way.