We live in an age where identity theft is commonplace. We are exposed to ads on TV warning us of identity theft and telling us what we can do to protect ourselves. We are given lessons on how to avoid giving out personal information and we can rest assured that we will be safe because we have been educated by the companies that are keeping our information safe.
At the same time, with the Internet, Facebook, Twitter, blogs, etc., information now spreads at the speed of light. Maybe even faster. Personal information like medical history is closely guarded because once information like this is released it can spread quickly, and this is typically not information we wish to share with the world.
And as long as we know what to do, we will be safe and our confidential information will be secure. Right? Because the banks, doctors and even governments that we deal with are all keeping our information safe and secure themselves by using simple and easy processes for information destruction. Right? I mean, they are, right?
Well….Just looking at a few recent examples of cases where documents with confidential information were released shows how common this can be. For example:
- In North Carolina, a doctor was fined $40,000 for illegally dumping financial and medical records for 1,600 of his patients. During a move from one office to another the records were accidentally thrown out.
- In Texas, a tax accounting business apparently dumped confidential client information in the dumpster. This information included complete personal financial information including bank routing numbers, social security numbers, etc.
- In Georgia police launched an investigation into garbage bags full of confidential medical information discovered in a dumpster outside the former office of a local ob-gyn.
- In one Texas town it was the city government that accidentally discarded job applications in the trash. Detailed personal information was revealed for a number of applicants.
I grew up with the expression “It’s not rocket science”, meaning, of course, that “it” wasn’t all that hard. Rocket science being the standard for complexity that all things were compared to. And for good reason. The space shuttle, for example, is assembled from more than 2.5 million parts, 230 miles of wire, 1,060 valves, and 1,440 circuit breakers. That’s complicated. That’s rocket science.
So if we were talking about rocket science you could understand how people could make mistakes. Rocket science is complicated. Unexpected things happen. Now let’s compare that to keeping my confidential records out of the hands of identity thieves. Let’s see…that requires someone NOT putting my records in the dumpster. It requires someone putting records my records IN a shred bin somewhere. Seriously, how hard is that?
But to be fair, people do make mistakes. Documents get marked incorrectly, they get put in the wrong box, and they get thrown out by mistake. And, sarcasm aside, the challenge is not about putting a document in a shred bin instead of a trash can, it’s about always making the right decision about what document to put in what place. Fortunately, however, there is such an easy solution.
The way around this is to just treat every document as a confidential document. That’s it. Companies that don’t want to have to worry about a key document getting accidentally placed in the trash have implemented “shred all” policies. Nothing goes in the trash; everything goes in a shred bin. Very simple. No rocket science. Just a business environment that is safe for customers like you and me, and safe for the business.
And there are other benefits to a “shred all” policy. An environmentally conscious shred company like Iron Mountain will send the shredded materials to a recycling operation. So a “shred all” policy also equates to a “recycle all” policy which can help you meet your company’s sustainability goals. This not only keeps your data secure, it also helps keep the environment secure. Simple – no rocket science required, just good business sense.
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