'Shred-A-Thon' set for Saturday
>
>
> http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/baltimore_city/bal-shred1213,0,1705383.story
>
> This trend seems to be spreading in this region.  A local TV station in DC
> co-sponsors this type of event with a bank and shredding vendor.


These were held annually at  avariety of locations in the SF Bay Area a few
years ago... they were sponsored by local outlets of a national office
supply firm.  The shredding was done on-site by a commercial storage vendor
who also offered document destruction services.

The one thing I'd like to see done in conjunction with this is to offer a
listing of the types of documents that SHOULD NOT be shredded for people to
consider, such as tax returns less than 7 years old, or W2 forms attached to
tax returns older than that.  Also, the Terms and Conditions notices that
arrive with credit cards that remain in-force until the card expires or is
replaced.

There are others, but these are key documents to ensuring a person's rights
are protected... in some cases, without these wage earning records, a person
can be denied or have lower benefits calculated by the Social Security
Administration.

Another concern is any records managed by private parties who ran businesses
that were incorporated.  As an example, in CA, non-profits must incorporate
to attain proper tax reporting status, and the tax records of corporations
are subject to audit and review for 25 years.  Many people serve on Boards
of non-profits , some as secretaries and treasurers, and those records
shouild be closely evaluated prior to destruction for applicability.

I would encourage ARMA Chapters to offer to have members available at these
events under the banner of "Ask a Records Manager", naturally, with a
disclaimer that they are not giving legal advice.  We contacted local
chapters when these were being held and suggested they offer members for
this purpose, and I know that I personally sat in on a couple of them.

Following the events, I gave brief presentations at a few senior centers in
the local area on privacy protection and offered suggestions on personal
record keeping.

Larry
-- 
Larry Medina
Danville, CA
RIM Professional since 1972

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