When it comes to business records, there are some pretty clear rules about what needs to be shredded for security reasons. Regulations like GDPR also mean that you need to keep some documents for weeks, months or even years, so we hope your archive space is up to it! But what about all of the documents that don’t necessarily have to be shredded by law? Do you spend time going through it all and separating out the things that need to be shredded from the ones that don’t? Or does it make more sense to just shred everything you no longer need?
The Majority Of Data Breaches Are Caused By Paperwork
We live in a world where you can find news of a new large-scale data breach every day. There is no doubt that we are becoming more and more focussed on data security as new threats surface, and the introduction of GDPR has shone a light on how businesses handle and protect the data they hold. With all of that focus and attention on taking care of data, it might be surprising to learn that the majority of data breaches are actually caused by mishandled paperwork.
The International Association of Privacy Professionals conducted a series of studies on data security incidents in three highly regulated, strict industries. They discovered that mishandled paperwork was at the root of 73% of data breach incidents. Further studies showed that 88% of all UK data breaches reported to the ICO in the last 2 years were also the result of human error and paperwork mishandling. So maybe it’s time for businesses to rethink their paperwork policies when it comes to data security?
What Are The Risks?
Human beings are prone to error – it’s just a fact of life. That means it’s something businesses need to be aware of and put processes in place to manage – rather than just leaving it to go unchecked. Without processes to manage human error, you put your business at risk of a data breach, which could have serious ramifications for your business. Privacy breaches don’t just affect your internal systems (which could be damaged through the theft of data) – it can also cause reputational damage, loss of customer trust, loss of business, prosecution and some pretty hefty fines from the ICO for breaching GDPR.
So how do you protect your business from mishandled paperwork disasters? Shred. Everything.
Why Shred Everything?
There are a couple of reasons why businesses should consider shredding all paperwork that is no longer needed:
- Shredding all paperwork that is no longer needed significantly reduces the risk of human error. This could be the only reason you need – it’s a simple step that can manage that risk of human error and leave you less likely to suffer a data breach through this channel.
- Shredding everything simplifies your company’s document disposal strategy and will save you oodles of time. This is mainly because staff will no longer need to pick through documents and rely on their own judgement about what needs to be shredded and what doesn’t. It also means you don’t need to continually train new employees what to look for in a document that needs shredding. They can just put everything into one of our secure, lockable units, and let us do the rest.
- Shredding all unneeded paperwork will help your company stay on top of document disposal regulations, in line with GDPR requirements.
- As an added bonus, shredding all unneeded paperwork is very environmentally friendly. All shredded paper can be recycled at UK recycling centres, and reused for further paper products.
At Greenaway, we specialise in helping businesses manage their document disposal process, complete with full shredding service. So instead of leaving your employees hunched over a shredder for hours a day, you can simply install one of our secure lockable units and place all documents for shredding inside it. a representative will collect the contents at a time that suits you and securely destroy them at our premises or yours. If you would like more information, just get in touch with us today.
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