Professional Shredding Services Keep You Legal

A data breach causes many headaches for all involved. Consumers must worry if their identity will be stolen. Companies face a tainted reputation and the government’s ire if a breach occurs that could have been avoided. For years data destruction laws and regulations have mandated how companies store and destroy data. The goal is to protect both consumers and employees. From HIPAA in 1996 to FACTA in 2003, more and more businesses have tightened their internal protocols to ensure they don’t fall on the wrong side of the government. An unsung hero in the quest to properly dispose of records is your local professional paper shredding company. They have the resources to ensure valuable, confidential, personal information does not fall into the wrong hands.

Tips for Remaining Compliant with Shredding Laws

To ensure your company complies with existing shredding laws, you must be aware of the different regulations. The most common ones fall within HIPAA and FACTA. Here are a few tips to help you stay compliant with the rules:

1. Create (or update) your data disposal and destruction policy. The purpose of this policy is to provide guidance on data cleaning and destruction. It should comply with your industry’s state and federal regulations. It should define what data is to be protected and should include input from all departments. 
2. Put appropriate records in digital format. You may need to keep physical records for a specific period. However, many other records can be easily transferred into a digital format instead of keeping it in paper form. An information management company with document scanning services can make the transition seamless.
3. Establish a retention schedule. To ensure you keep records for the time prescribed by law, you will want to maintain a proper retention schedule. This way, you will know when to purge records and when to wait.
4. Work with a records management company. These companies offer solutions to records management that help you stay legally compliant. The best ones are NAID certified, provide a certificate of destruction and chain of custody, and adhere to industry, state, and federal standards.

Seamless Record Retention Compliance with Crown Information Management

Records management doesn’t have to be a complex and time-consuming process. Creating a disposal and destruction policy is the first step. Hiring Crown Information Management to take care of the task should be your next step. Our team of professionals understands the standards of different industries and strives to give you the best solutions for your company. We also provide a chain of custody and certificates of destruction. Talk to us about paper shredding, electronic device destruction, indexing, and scanning services. We’ll provide a tailored solution for your records retention and destruction needs.

For experienced help with shredding and destroying documents, hard drives, products, and secure, pest-free storage with a SOC1 Level 2 Report,NAID AAA, and PCI Certified company, put our team to work for you. Call Crown Information Management at 800-979-9545 or contact us online to learn more about our services.