– a small guide to disposing of sensitive documents safely.
When it comes to disposing of sensitive information, government and enterprises are the best in the biz, to be blunt. They have to be – if they were to become sloppy with their information handling, that would mean that their enemies could get their hands on it, and that would be bad.
But have you ever considered that the personal information on your everyday slips of paper can benefit your enemies? Now, you might not have any enemies, per se, but we’re thinking more of those who might take advantage of you just for being in the wrong…uhm, house at the wrong time. There are a thousand ways of stealing someone’s identity, even if it’s just for a small-time scam. The whole point is to deter as much as possible, and making the theft as hard as it will get. Paper handling in the right way is an important step to secure your personal information. Good routines and healthy habits will safeguard your info.
All right, it’s not necessesarily that important to have your own high-powered, government spec shredder that turns everything you put in there to dust. That might run you a couple of hundred dollars or more, and that’s a bit over the top for something that just eats your paper and really does nothing but destroy stuff. However, there are some simple models out there that will suit everyone’s needs.
First up, though, is the habits.
You need to get into the habit that personal information is worth protecting, and the rest of your household should be in on it too – it doesn’t help if one person shreds and protects while everyone else neglects.
All right, pay attention, it’s a very complicated 2-step procedure:
Collection.
Collect papers that you are not going to save in one place. That will make it easier to keep track of everything.
Bills that you’ve paid, account statements, shipping documents, receipts and so on all go in one box. make sure you mark it as what it is, so no one misunderstands.
Destruction.
HERE is all you need to safely get rid of all your sensitive documents. ‘Nuff said, for now.