In my years as a freelancer, I've seen countless businesses flounder and fail. Sometimes it's because the owner is inexperienced; sometimes it's because the market wasn't ready for the product; sometimes it seems simply to be a matter of luck. If you want to manipulate your own luck, though, there are some tricks you can use--little things that will make it easier for you to get your new small business off the ground and keep it there. In this new blog, I'll be sharing those tips and tricks with you and answering your questions on how to help yourself as much as possible.
Any business generates masses of paper, which has to be either stored or disposed of. You may be tempted just to put it in the bin, but, in fact, it is vitally important that you have a robust document destruction policy. Here's why.
Legal compliance
Firstly, privacy laws demand that any personal information should be destroyed or de-identified as far as is reasonable. There are large fines for any business that does not comply with this law, which can easily outweigh the savings you might make on not using a secure destruction service. As well as complying with the law, you will need to be able to show that you complied with it. A haphazard approach is unlikely to satisfy the courts.
Avoid identity theft
Identity theft is an increasingly common type of fraud in which the scammers are able to pose as other people, as they have obtained personal information about them. It is not always obvious what kind of information will help a fraudster guess a password or find out enough about a person to answer security questions. The only way to reduce this type of crime is to keep personal data secure and to destroy it when it is no longer needed.
Protect your customers
When customers give you any information -- which can include their bank details, their personal details and information on the products and services they have bought -- they are trusting you to keep this information safe. If a data leak is traced to your organisation it will have a detrimental effect on your customer relations as well as being potentially devastating for those whose lives are affected.
Protect your employees
Employees are also at risk of having their information leaked, but in this case, you could be in possession of highly sensitive data such as health records, payment information, bank details, identity documents, photos and work grievance reports. You must ensure that none of this information falls into the wrong hands, and the safest way to destroy it securely when it is no longer needed is through a document destruction company.
In the twenty-first century, information security is of paramount concern. The simplest way to ensure you have complied with the law and kept your staff and customers safe is to use a professional document destruction company who will destroy the information securely and provide the necessary proof that they have done so.
Share26 September 2019