Why is regular document shredding important?

Arkiva Shredding

Why Is Regular Document Shredding Important

Every office possesses highly confidential documents of staff or business transactions that should never fall into the wrong hands. Such documents are very sensitive, private and are meant to remain as such. But there’s only a limited area in our office spaces so proper disposal of confidential materials is crucial in keeping our offices conducive and comfortable for conducting our businesses.

1. Compliance with the law

The use of individuals’ personal data in Singapore is governed by the Personal Data Protection Act (PDPA) It is our legal right to protect our confidential information and that of our customers. As a matter of fact, one can be penalized for improper discarding of confidential information. Once a document is no longer in use, organizations are advised to ensure that it is properly disposed through shedding. It is imperative that all organizations carry out proper disposal of private information and protect every personal data in their care.

2. Prevents leakage of confidential information

No organization wants to go through any sort of scandal/fraud or lose personal data of its employees. Ensure that this does not happen by shredding any unused private documents and data. Vital information of a company’s business or private data of an employee in the wrong hands can have dire consequences. While most documents are now stored digitally, some companies still see the need for physical renditions. You definitely don’t want confidential documents on your sales figures, business development plans and staff information to fall into the wrong hands.

3. Protects you and your staff from identity theft

Identity thefts – the crime of obtaining personal or financial information of someone else – are more prevalent than you think. When not disposed of properly, personal information of you and your valued staff can be used by an identity thief for his/her own financial gain.

4. Reduce clutter and save on storage space

It is quite common for many companies to leave papers and documents lying around in storage at the office. Some of these have yet to see the light of day in years but are somehow still sitting on desks, resting in filing cabinets and taking up a ton of unnecessary space. Shredding these unwanted documents can free up space in your office and reduce clutter.

5. Helps you save time

Perhaps the easiest and most convenient way to destroy documents is to tear it up by hand, especially if it’s just one or two pieces of paper. However, according to advisory from the PDPA, tearing such documents in halves or quarters does not destroy data on the paper completely. In fact, it still provides third parties with the opportunity to retrieve them and reassemble the pieces into the original document. Shredding paper completely into indiscernible pieces not only helps you to save time when you need to destroy documents in bulk, but also ensures that the strips of shredded documents can’t be reassembled.

6. Excessive clutter can pose as a fire hazard

Keeping piles of documents in the office increases the risk of a fire outbreak. There should be constant disposal of these documents by shredding once they are no longer in use. Every office should own a secure shredding console with someone placed in-charge. Although a third-party shredding service is the best because it does not involve capital investment, frequent maintenance service and the time spent by employees at the shredding machine can be better used at making money for the company.

7. Ensures your customers’ trust

When confidential documents with information about customers, clients and staff are guaranteed to remain private even after a business transaction, it increases the trust that all stakeholders have in the company for future liaisons.

8. Makes recycling so much easier

From an environmental perspective, paper recycling should be encouraged instead of burning. After shredding, the shredded remnants can still be recycled as raw materials and processed into recycled paper.

Every organization is to carry out paper or document shredding to fulfil the above-mentioned points. Organizations can own their shredding machine or pay a fair amount to third-party shredding companies. This is where Arkiva Shredding Service steps in. We are here to serve and fulfil all your document shredding requirements. We understand privacy and we make sure that all your documents remain secure with us even after shredding.

Arkiva Shredding Service provides you with a top-notch secure off-site paper shredding. Our shredding policy is in compliance with the PDPA (Personal Data Protection Act). With GPS tracked vehicles for transportation, we are beyond pleased to let you know that we carry out strict shredding policy thereby only our trained authorized personnel are permitted to be in charge of the documents.

Do drop an email to us at info@arkiva.com.sg or call 6303 0688 to work out the best way to suit your requirements now!

Document Disposal Console

Why every company should have secure document disposal console (why shred?)

In June 2016, a passerby discovered an opened box containing confidential documents of a renowned financial service provider in a container. The documents included names, addresses, dates of birth and annual income information – easily accessible to the public. This negative example stands as an example of the improper destruction of data since ultimately only the data that is de facto defaced are considered deleted. In order for the valuable information to not fall into the wrong hands, it is recommended to integrate information security management systems according to ISO 27001.

How to protect privacy by shredding

Too many people or businesses are victims of fraudsters. Most of the time, the information stored in some documents can cause you serious trouble if it ends up in the wrong hands. This can greatly damage the reputation of your company, your suppliers or even your employees. Fraud and identity theft are becoming increasingly popular and are very difficult to detect, hence the importance of good management of the destruction of your obsolete and cumbersome documents. Whether for a small or a large quantity, shredding goes directly to your premises to destroy your old and confidential documents.

Here are some examples of personal information that must be destroyed:

• Invoices
• NRIC information
• Employee data
• Medical file
• Curriculum vitae
• Income tax returns
• Supplier information
• HR document
• Accounting
• Credit Report

When in doubt, just shred the document.

Why outsource?

It is not advisable to proceed with the destruction and disposal of sensitive data on your own, because the documents must be treated with extreme caution. We issue a certificate of destruction after every service that you can keep for audit purposes.

With this document you can always feel comfortable, protecting your data and those of your customers. The entire process is governed by safety regulations so that nothing falls into the wrong hands.

Cost Factors for Owning a Shredding Machine

There are some cost factors when it comes to having your own shredding machine especially when you are an organization. The reason is that they want to limit their risks in revealing confidential information and also use staff time effectively. Here are some key factors in owning a shredding machine:

Shredding machine costs: It can range from $200 to $11,000 for large businesses and $450 and $5000 for medium and small size businesses.

Machine Maintenance: Labor and specific material are required to maintain the shredding machine, not to mention the one-time charge of $150 just to find out what is wrong with your machine.

Time spent at the machine: The time spent by an employee on the shredding machine is about 10 minutes a day. If you have 20 employees that amounts to more than 3 hours of man hours wasted!

Final Thoughts:

The disposal console does not only give your company a lot of conveniences but also save your time. Above all, it increases the security of your sensitive documents without leaving your office. For more information, feel free to check with our consultants by email – info@arkiva.com.sg

Why is Secure Disposal of items with company logo necessary?

The items or products with branding / company logos have several characteristics, two of which stand out in the subject: usefulness and lifetime. One of the main assets a company has is its identity and brand; the same that is used in everything that represents him: from the pen in your reception to the staff t-shirts.

Many times these assets are victims of the appropriation. Given its usefulness in the company as a means of internal and mainly external identification, their correct disposal is an issue to consider. This is a factor that could easily be overlooked, as the identity within the company is usually confirmed with the use of credentials or fingerprints, however; how could an end customer verify that such information is true?

There are already several ways to verify the identification, however; if your company does not ensure the destruction of the confidential or exclusive material of the company, it can be the victim of an impersonation just by having access to an item with company logo, shirt or credential that was wrongly discarded.

How items or products with branding / company logos should be securely disposed of?

Do you remember any movie in which, one of the characters manages to sneak inside the police station, hotel security or any other, just by wearing the shirt of that institution to commit fight or crime? Mission Impossible, Fast and Furious 5, Jason Bourne among others, is examples of a reality that is lived more frequently than we think. So, it is necessary to have specialized tools that ensure that they cannot be rebuilt but can be recycled if the client wishes. That’s why at Arkiva we provide the services of removal of items or products with branding / company logos with proper disposal. We provide the secure destruction of the items or products that need proper disposal. All of the above translates into prestige, safety, and care of your brand.

The secure disposal of these items creates an atmosphere of trust and prestige even within your company.

Secure Disposal you can trust in Singapore:

As you can see, taking care of your company’s reputation, in and out of it, is a daily task and you should consider such sensitive aspects as the confidential destruction of items, credentials and digital or written documents. At Arkiva we specialize in providing your company with a professional, fast and secure service to destroy products or items that are branded with a company logo. Our secure disposal services seek to reduce to small pieces those items or products with company that you want to throw away or use for recycling (the material can be used in the manufacture of other products or can be recovered and reused).

What are you waiting for? Contact our consultants to receive specialized advice and schedule your next secure disposal with Arkiva.