Author: Crown Information Managment

Take Precautions Now to Save Your Child’s Future

When identity theft is often brought up, many imagine an adult. The sad reality is that the theft of a child’s identity is on the rise. The worst part is that the child may not find out until they reach the age of 18 years old and attempt to obtain a credit card or loan. By that time, much damage could have been done, leaving your children to pick up the pieces at a time they should be enjoying adulthood. We understand the importance of shredding documents, hardware destruction, and effective records management. We don’t always consider how to teach our young ones to protect their greatest asset—their identity. 

Solidify Your Bottom Line and Protect Your Brand

Today’s society wants open and transparent companies that protect the environment and create quality products. To maintain a solid business foundation, companies must constantly make decisions. Sometimes, the options are relatively routine. There are times when a firmer tactic must be used, especially when dealing with products. When you have thieves willing to take your discarded items and sell them, you run the risk of liability issues and brand tarnishing. All it takes is for some faulty products or poor service to be reported on social media and a company’s reputation starts to look bad. Including a robust product destruction process in your operations makes good business sense.

Ease the Document Maintenance and Destruction Struggle 

It makes good business sense to manage your company’s records carefully. Not only should you have systems and training in place for your employees to handle all the documents, but the law may dictate how you destroy customer files. It is possible to utilize an office shredder to handle small amounts of paper, but it will not shred the documents in a manner that renders them unreadable. You also must develop a schedule to eliminate old documents, and the process will eat into your employees’ productivity. A better and more efficient option is to utilize the services of a local shredding company not only to destroy but also to store, index, and create digital images.

Identity theft is a concern for most while going about daily living. Businesses protect clients’ valuable information. Individuals keep tabs on their credit cards and ID when at home. Vacation travel shouldn’t be any different. In fact, people should take more precautions when traveling. Identity thieves make use of every opportunity; they never take a holiday if it means they can make a quick buck at your expense. If you take work with you on the road, you carry a more significant liability of managing and protecting documents.

Take a look around your office and notice the piles of records sitting on desks. Some stacks may be smaller, while others are so huge, they can be used in place of cubicle walls! The continuing question for many businesses is—what to do with all that paper? Do you keep filling file cabinets with paper and thus take up precious storage space? Do you scan the documents and store them in the cloud? If you decide to scan, is it better to accomplish that monumental task in-house or outsource it? Outsourcing your document scanning services can be a significant benefit to your company’s overall operations.

Today’s consumer remembers their experience with your product or service—both good and bad. One bad review on social media can leave you clamoring to improve your image. Some companies make money by selling your production overruns, damaged and discontinued production, and obsolete inventory. They are not concerned with your branding or image; they want to make a fast buck on your hard work. Product destruction services protect your company by obliterating any unused, unneeded product or promotional material.

Hurricanes cause billions of dollars in damage each year as they rip across the area. Floridians know that the threat of one of these storms is great from June to November. Plywood and generators fly out of the big box stores each season while people hunker down to ride out the storm. On occasion, evacuation is necessary. One area that is often overlooked is that of protection for vital documents. Businesses have a much harder time resuming operations when they lose equipment and records. It’s possible to keep your crucial documents safe, especially during hurricane season, by taking a few precautions throughout the year. 

As a lawyer, you provide a valuable service that requires a mountain of paperwork. After determining the best options and developing a sound system for document management and retention, what do you do with the extra documents that need to be stored? A wise, safe, and cost-effective option is to utilize the services of a certified document management company that provides secure locations to house your extra documents. When it is time to destroy records, they can help with that, too.

When someone applies for a loan, they expect to be approved. Unfortunately, some people find that their credit has been marred by someone other than themselves. A stranger managed to open credit cards, charge them up, and fail to pay them. This type of crime is called identity theft, and no one is immune from it. Thieves will root through garbage to find documents with personal identification information. They will use unwiped hard drives to piece together bits of data. These efforts, along with many online scams, are used to steal the identities of hardworking individuals. It is prolific enough that April 13^th is known as Identity Theft Day. If you house personal information for clients, you will want to ensure that you have processes to protect them and save your reputation. A dependable and certified data management company is the first place to turn.