File shredding is one of the most popular ways to get rid of our confidential documents in Singapore. This service is offered by several companies here and most of them are quite cost-effective.

In this article, we will have a look at some of the ways we can get rid of our confidential files by shredding.

 

Types of files in our office

 

1. Arch Files

These are the most prevalent file formats in our Singapore offices. These files cannot be recycled because of the hard back style and material. Because of this, it is advised that we take the paper out and reuse them rather than throwing away our documents.

Most of the time, these arch files do not contain sensitive information, therefore it is acceptable to simply discard them when we are done with them. This is because it will take a lot of time and possibly cost more money if we ask the file shredding company to remove the files before destruction.

 

 

 

2. Plastic Files/folders

Most businesses choose to utilise plastic files because they are very practical, reasonably priced, and take up little space. However, the removal process can be laborious and time-consuming when it’s time to get rid of our paperwork. This is due to the fact that the majority of file shredding companies in Singapore do not advise shredding plastic files together because it would result in shredded materials that cannot be recycled.

Shredding the entire file is still an option for extremely confidential documents that can include sensitive data. To learn more about the solutions available, get in touch with your file shredding company.

 

 

 

3. Paper Files

In the majority of cases, this type of file needs to be destroyed because, in most businesses, client information, such as names and NRIC numbers, is located at the top of the file for simple searching. These details are exceedingly private, and any data leak would be against the law under Singapore’s PDPA.

The good news is that most shredding businesses in Singapore can readily shred paper files without charging more.

 

 

How Can We Shred These Files and What are the Options?

 

File shredding companies in Singapore do offer a variety of choices for various file kinds. The whole goal of using file shredding services like Arkiva is to make it convenient for the customers. For instance, they allow customers to pick whether they want to remove the files themselves and reuse them or even help to remove the files and subsequently dispose them in NEA’s incinerator plant.

 

Company records must be preserved for a minimum of five years following the end of the fiscal year in which the pertinent transactions occurred.

For instance, if your company’s fiscal year finishes in December, you must keep the records for the 2010 fiscal year—that is, the period from January 1 to December 31, 2010—until at least December 31, 2015.

These documents must then be destroyed. Companies that shred documents, like Arkiva, offer convenience at extremely reasonable costs. Additionally, services can be tailored and discussed in accordance with various needs. Companies benefit greatly from this since personnel can concentrate on their most crucial tasks while leaving the rest to Arkiva.

With digitalisation becoming a large part of our lives, most of our confidential data are now stored in media storage devices. However, when it is time to dispose these devices, are we using the right methods to get rid of them? In this article, we will look at some of the best data destruction methods that are offered and most commonly used in Singapore.

Failure to properly dispose of these IT equipment can have serious consequences for your data, the environment, and your company or own reputation.

For example, in 2017, Coca-Cola suffered a data breach after a former employee stole an external hard drive which contained the personal data of more than 8000 employees. Penalty fees for cases like this could go up to 1 million dollars.

Cases like these proves the vulnerability of confidential data when our IT equipment like hard drives, thumb drives, computers are not securely destroyed after use.

Point to note: Deleting files do not solve the issue!

There are 3 main options to consider for data destruction in Singapore – Overwriting, degaussing, and physical destruction.

 

Overwriting

This data removal method involves writing new data on top of the old one. The process of overwriting involves the pattern of 1’s and 0’s written over the original data. Overwriting once is sufficient for most cases but for high security applications, multiple wipes might be required to provide extra level of assurance.

On the other hand, overwriting takes a very long time especially for high-capacity drives. It might also not be able to overwrite data from inaccessible regions such as host protected areas. This method is usually not recommended for large quantities.

 

Degaussing

The method of degaussing uses a high-powered magnet to remove and reduce the magnetic field of a media storage device. When applied, degaussing can effectively scramble the hard drive platter until it is no longer usable or readable. Data is stored using magnetic principles and degaussing alters the magnetic field of the device.

The 2 major disadvantages of degaussing are:

1. Degausser are not readily available off the shelves and cannot be used without the necessary expertise or supervision.
2. Degaussing does not eradicate data from non-magnetic devices like SSDs and CDs.

 

Physical Destruction

Organizations that are looking to destroy highly confidential information usually choose physical destruction of data. This method is carried out using an industrial shredder machine which crushes the device into small particles.

If you no longer need to use the media device, the safest and most effective way would be physical destruction. There are currently data destruction companies in Singapore offering physical destruction at very affordable prices. A certificate of destruction will be issued for compliance, and it can be done within a day using an industrial shredder.

This can also be an eco-friendly method as the ferrous and non-ferrous metals are extracted from the shredded particles to be recycled.

 

 

Destroy Your Confidential Data With Destruction Services From Arkiva Singapore

Arkiva offers:

• Secure paper shredding
• Physical data destruction
• Secure disposal services

Contact our specialists to get a free quote or call us at +65 6871 8789 now!

Shredding is the most common and effective way to dispose confidential documents in Singapore and is usually quick and simple. Whether you need a one-time service or regular collection for shredding, companies like Arkiva can provide an ad-hoc or scheduled solution.

 

Personal Data Protection Act (PDPA) not only covers the sharing of personal data. It also must be securely handled and destroyed when it is no longer required.

Here are some simple ways to handle and dispose your confidential documents in Singapore.

 

Whether you’re an individual, SME, or a large organisation, we deal with confidential documents and data on a daily basis. These includes things like personal data on paper or media devices, or company accounting information or employee data.

No matter if it is a pile of paper documents or media storage device, it is important that we have a plan on how will securely destroy them when we need to.

An example of when we might need to securely dispose of these confidential documents would be when the contract with our clients has finished, the end of storage life for financial documents (7 years for most cases in Singapore), or it can be just personal mail and letters over the year. These contain confidential information and needs to be securely disposed of according to the PDPA regulations here in Singapore.

 

Dispose and Destroy Confidential Paper Permanently & Securely

Shredding is the most common and best way to destroy paper documents and is usually quick, simple, and cost effective at the same time. It is recommended to keep a shredder machine in your office if the space permits so that the documents can be shredded periodically.

If you have large quantity, it may not be wise to shred them yourself as our typical office shredder may take a long time. This is when we can outsource this to companies offering secure confidential document shredding services.

The advantages of shredding compared to incineration would be that the shredded paper can be recycled. This is the most eco-friendly was to handle your confidential documents in Singapore.

 

Types of shredding method

 

1. Strip cut

This is usually the method of shredding for cheaper types of shredder machine and has a small chance of piecing the paper back together.

2. Cross cut

This is the most secure way to shred paper as the pieces have been shredded into small particles and extremely hard to reconstruct. For shredding companies, they do use machines to mix up the shredded particles so that there is a zero chance of recovering the confidential documents.

 

Image credit: IEVShop

 

How to Destroy Data from Media Storage Devices

 

With digitalisation becoming a large part of our lives, our confidential data are now largely stored in media devices like HDDs, SSDs, CDs, thumb drives etc. After we are done with these, there is a need to securely destroy these data to prevent anyone from gaining access to our confidential information.

There are several ways to wipe out data from our media devices with the basic ones being reformatting, wiping, or overwriting data. However, these may not be the best solutions as these data can easily be retrieved back with the right programs.

Another method which is one of the safer options would be to degauss. Degaussing is the process of removing and reducing the magnetic field of a storage drive. When applied to magnetic storage media, the process can quickly and effectively purge and entire storage device. This makes the data completely unrecoverable.

The safest way used by some large companies like Intel will be physical destruction. This process is straight-forward and as the phrase suggests, will physically destroy the whole device by shredding. This will ensure that there is no chance that the data will ever be recovered.

 

For more information on how to dispose of confidential documents in Singapore, do reach out to Arkiva’s dedicated specialists to learn more about how we can help with protecting your confidential data and be green and sustainable at the same time.

We are pleased to announce that Arkiva has been featured on Singapore’s Finest as well as The Fun Empire as number 1 under – “10 Best Paper Shredding Services in Singapore [2022]”

We sincerely thank all our clients for their continuous support and will work harder as a team to provide better services to you!

What is Personal Data Protection Act (PDPA) Singapore?

The Personal Data Protection Commission (PDPC) was officially established on 2 January 2013. The commission serves as Singapore’s authority in all matters related to personal data protection.

There are heavy penalties for breach of Personal Data Protection Act (PDPA). Fines can be up to SGD$1 million and companies may suffer loss in reputation.

 

 

What is Personal Data?

The definition of Personal Data is any information relating to a person that enables him/her to be identified, whether directly or indirectly.

PDPA was implemented as a Singapore law to prevent the misuse of personal data.

It covers any personal data which are stored both in electronic and non-electronic formats.

Some examples of Personal Data includes:

• Names
• NRIC details
• Images of an individual
• Voice recordings of an individual
• Passport details
• Personal contact number (DNC Registry)
• DNA Profile

 

What are my Data Protection Obligations?

The following are the obligations of any organisations under the Personal Data Protection Act (PDPA):

 

• Collection of Personal Data

Informing individuals the purposes of collecting & using their personal data. Using them for purposes that they have given consent to and allow withdrawal with reasonable notice.

 

• Care of Personal Data

Ensure that personal data collected is accurate and complete and make reasonable security measures to ensure the personal data are not disclosed while in your possession.

Do not keep personal data once it is no longer required and to dispose of them the correct way.

 

• Individual’s Autonomy

Provide individuals with access and information on how Personal Data was used upon request.

In any cases of data breach which might result in significant harm to individuals, to notify PDPC as well as affected individual.

 

*Information from https://www.pdpc.gov.sg/-/media/Files/PDPC/PDF-Files/Resource-for-Organisation/Data-Protection-Obligations-under-the-PDPA.ashx?la=en

 

Who Must Comply With PDPA?

PDPA compliance is mandated for organisations operating in Singapore with respect to using, collecting, and disclosing of personal data.

Employees of any organisations must also adhere to their organisation’s policies to ensure compliance with PDPA.

 

How do I comply with PDPA?

1. Appoint a Data Protection Officer – Privacy Ninja is Singapore’s leading PDPA & data protection company that provides DPO services at reasonable rates.
2. Check Do Not Call Registry first
3. Inform purpose of collecting Personal Data and always seek consent
4. Ensure Personal Data collected is accurate and allow correction if requested
5. Secure & prevent unauthorised access to Personal Data
6. Communicate your policies, practices, and processes for data protection
7. Closely monitor or manage service providers that are engaged to handle Personal Data
8. Dispose of Personal Data by shredding paper documents, or use specialized software for electronic data

 

Companies in Singapore like Arkiva will be able to help with securely destroying paper documents or electronics like hard disks and flash drives that contain personal data.

By physically destroying the confidential personal data, companies can have a peace of mind that the personal data has been fully erased and safe from data leak.

A certificate of destruction issued upon completion of service also acts as a “black & white” proof that data has been destroyed for future audit purposes.

 

 

*Reference
https://www.pdpc.gov.sg/Overview-of-PDPA/The-Legislation/Personal-Data-Protection-Act

 

The data on just a single hard drive can potentially cover about 10 football fields when printed out. Imagine what could happen if your hard drive full of confidential data fell into the wrong hands.

Arkiva provides secure hard drive and media destruction service to help both businesses and individuals stay protected from confidential information leak.

1. Deleted data CAN be retrieved easily.
Those data that you manually delete from your computer can easily be retrieved back by certain programs. This means that the information that you deleted years ago from your thumb drives and computer can still be retrieved from hackers if it falls into the wrong hands.

2. Even if the media devices are stored in a locked area, there is still a chance that it could be accessed.
Think your confidential data is secure just by locking them up? In an office with so many employees, there is simply no way to monitor every single person, not forgetting third party vendors. An outgoing employee might decide to retrieve confidential company information before joining your competitors. All these can be detrimental to businesses.

3. Compliance with PDPA Singapore
PDPA Singapore was implemented to enforce that confidential personal data should NOT be exposed to public. This means that companies that hold confidential client information should periodically ensure that their paper documents or data in their hard drives and computers are destroyed.

As long as the hard drives exist and are stored, there is a risk that they can be accessed. Professional hard drive and media destruction is the only way to ensure that data has been destroyed 100%.

Physical hard drive destruction ensures that the data will no longer be retrievable.

With a Certificate of Destruction, you can be assured that this audit trail will prove the data has indeed been destroyed.

Why Choose Arkiva?

Arkiva specialise in data destruction of all type of media devices. Whether it is the destruction of hard drives, media tapes, CDs, mobile phones or thumb drives, we can help you make sure that the data is securely destroyed.

High Security
Our vehicles are fitted with GPS tracking, our facility has 24/7 CCTV monitoring and not forgetting every single one of our specialists are well trained.
Fully Compliant & Certified
Arkiva is a NEA, i-SIGMA and bizSAFE3 certified hard disk destruction service provider in Singapore.
Save Time
By outsourcing your media destruction to us, you can focus on the important work.
Custom Services
All services are tailored made to suit your requirements. Contact our specialists to discuss how we can work to best fit you.
Responsive Service
All clients have 100% guaranteed access to our team from Monday – Friday, 9am-6pm.

Contact our specialists to find out more information about media destruction now!

International Secure Information Governance & Management AssociationTM (i-SIGMA®) is a industry trade association, that enforces standards and ethical compliance for approximately 2,000 secure data destruction, records and information management service providers in over six continents.

Arkiva has recently joined the association and this will mean that we are a certified shredding company in compliance with the international standards set for data destruction service providers.
For more details, please refer to i-SIGMA website.

Thank you for your support!

We are pleased to announce that Arkiva has received the NEA General Waste Collectors’ License as well as the NEA General Waste Facility License.
These licenses will allow Arkiva to operate a facility to collect paper and e-wastes.
We will also be a licensed waste collector for general wastes in all parts of Singapore.

We will strive to keep improving on our services and providing the best for our customers.
Thank you for your support!

Document shredding has slowly become a mainstay in the corporate world. Largely due to the implementation of Personal Data Protection Act, with the latest amendments taking effect in phases from Feb 2021.
Now even more than ever, we should be protecting all our confidential information. Even residential customers are regularly engaging document shredding companies to destroy things like old mails and computer hard drives.

With that in mind, here are some interesting facts to consider about document shredding here in Singapore:

1. Document shredding is not just important for personal and cyber-security reasons, it is also the law. It is illegal in Singapore to leave any documentation in public that states personal information of any individuals like identification number etc.

2. Shredding service is NOT just for paper only. An average industrial shredding machine can shred through things like rubber bands, staples, binder files. It can also destroy hard items like hard disks, floppy disks, mobile phones.
It is however better to sort out pollutants from paper before shredding. This will ensure that 100% of the shredded paper will be recycled.

3. There are 2 types of document shredding – Cross-cut and strip-cut.
Strip-cut shredding is a typical way to shred documents using a normal office shredder. It cuts the paper into long parallel lines. This takes up a lot of time and manpower spent at the shredder can be better deployed elsewhere. Also, with a little bit of patience, the paper can still be reconstructed easily.
Cross-cut shredding means that the paper will be shredded both lengthways and widthways and that means the end product will be small particles that resembles confetti. Most document shredding companies in Singapore uses this technique.

4. After any document shredding service is complete, you will want a Certificate of Destruction from your service provider. This acts as proof that the documents or electronics are already shredded and will be crucial when the auditors come knocking.

5. Outsource large quantity shredding.
Considering employee’s salary here in Singapore is relatively high and machine maintenance can be such a big hassle, do consider outsourcing document shredding to service providers like Arkiva.
It can be as simple as just dropping your documents into secured bins and schedule automated regular collection. What’s more, shredded paper will be 100% recycled!

We are pleased to announce that Arkiva has been accredited with BizSAFE level 3 certification by the WSH Council!
bizSAFE is a programme designed to help companies build workplace safety and health (WSH) capabilities.

We will strive to keep improving and providing the best for our customers.
Thank you very much for your support!