Nishika, Dwight and others...
First of all (Amy's disclosure), I am a dirty, rotten, stinkin owner of
a commercial records management company, to include the largest plant
based shredding operation in Nashville.
To me, this is sorta like shopping for the cheapest brain surgeon in
town when your child is the one needing the operation.
I've personally never seen where the cheapest of anything was ever the
best - to include shredding services. So, please understand that you
will be getting what you pay for eventually. I also want to admonish
you for even pursuing the "cheapest" method to confidentially destroy
documents and papers that if placed in the wrong hands, can land your
organization on the front pages, open your organization up to serious
legal exposure and fines from several federal agencies because of
recently enacted privacy laws and surely leave you shortly thereafter,
amongst the unemployed.
And I am reminded of an occasion here in Nashville a few years ago that
made the news A financial planner took boxes of records he wanted to
have destroyed to the local thermal transfer plant to have them burned.
About 100 of his client's personal information was in the boxes. He
placed them in the pit, which was very active that day and apparently
full. The thermal transfer company provided him with a certificate of
destruction. He left without witnessing the hopper coming to pick up
the boxes and dump them in the fire pit. A few minutes later, another
person arrived to dump in the pit and found a couple of the boxes from
the financial planner. He took them home, looked at them and then
called the papers and they had a field day with the financial planner -
who held up the certificate of destruction, only to find out that it
gave him no protection whatsoever. But, it was cheap way to destroy the
records, wasn't it?
If you are not using a shredding company that is AAA NAID certified, you
are gambling. You are placing your company's vital information at risk.
Yes, there is a possibility, but a very slim possibility of the
information being inappropriately released with a AAA NAID certified
company. Using a AAA NAID certified company to destroy paper insures
that you are using a company that is following the strictest of
shredding procedures and is periodically, independently audited to make
sure they are in compliance. www.naidonline.org will give you the
details.
If there is a breach, a release of your information, you can rest
assured that you will be approached by management and they will ask you
why this particular shredding company was chosen. If you chose the
company because they were the cheapest, I'm not sure that your superiors
will appreciate the money you meant to save them. If you choose a AAA
NAID certified shredding company you can say that you used the most
secure company in the area. You will be off the hook ...
And by the way, you probably think that when paper is shredded, that it
is gone - that you are done when you have the certificate of
destruction. If you think that, you should google the words "document
reconstruction" where you will find that there is an industry out there
capable of reconstructing shredded bales of paper. Very capable. You
really do need to be checking out who is handling your paper - what they
do with it after it is shredded. They usually tell you that they are
using a "secure recycler." There is no such thing. You will probably
find out that most shredding companies sell their paper at the end of
the day to a recycler, who then resells your paper. The chain of
custody is broken before you go home from the office that day and anyone
can go and buy your paper and potentially have it reconstructed, if they
are the top bidder. You will also find that a majority of the shredded
paper bales in America still goes to China. I can still remember a
couple of years ago on the listserve when someone received a Christmas
present by mail where the present was in a larger box with shredded
paper surrounding it. They could read the information very well and
posted it here. The stuffing paper was purchased from a "secure
recycling company."
So again, go ahead and find the cheapest place to destroy your paper.
For a while, you will be the hero - until there is a problem...
Angry replies can be sent to ...
R. Stephen Richards
President & CEO
Richards & Richards
Nashville, TN
615-242-9600
www.RichardsandRichards.com
P Please print multiple copies of this email. We have a large shredder.
Thank you
-----Original Message-----
From: WALLIS Dwight D [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Tuesday, January 26, 2010 11:14 AM
Subject: Re: Secure destruction of Confidential Information
Nishika, we have been utilizing a similar service for decades, generally
sending out 10 pallets of boxes (500 boxes) at a time, and destroying as
many as 70 tons per year. Usually companies want you to generate this
kind of volume to offer this type of service. Our volume is generated
from our records center. A mobile shredding process would be too
expensive and impractical. Primary things to look for in this "plant
based" process are secure transport and storage; also potential use of
third parties for destruction.
The National Association of Information Destruction (NAID) has a
certification process for this plant based form of destruction. You can
get the details at:
http://www.naidonline.org/
Dwight Wallis, CRM
Records Administrator
Multnomah County Records Management Program
1620 SE 190th Avenue
Gresham, OR 97233
phone: (503)988-3741
fax: (503)988-3754
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