Are you an information hoarder? Are you one of those who thinks “I had better save this because I might need it some day?” An effective document destruction practice can help prevent information from falling into the wrong hands, be they competitors, media, employees, partners, government agencies, and lawyers.
Ben Rothke’s recent article in CSO magazine, Why Information Must Be Destroyed, written in two installments, provides good insight into the issue.
No one is suggesting to violate legal and regulatory requirements. Rather a firm should support those requirements to a fault, and nothing beyond.
Some people still think they need to print out copies of certain documents because it is easier to read. After spending the past 3 years teaching online courses, online reading, even text books and long articles, is a learned skill. It is one I appreciate and am thankful for. It saves on cabinet space. I remember having large paper files and filing cabinets. I have one at home and one at work. They are mostly empty and rarely get used. Needed information is kept on secure hard drives in multiple locations. Any paper not needed is tossed, shredded or placed in secure containers associated with a viable information destruction company (mobile- or plant-based shredders).
What information should be shredded when no longer needed? Although it will vary between industries, here’s a good list, albeit incomplete:
In part 2 of Rothke’s article, he comments on the need and process of destroying digital media. Hard drives fail. Computers reach an end of life either practically or financially. Mobile digital media have a life span. All of this material needs to be destroyed or sanitized according to industry or policy guidelines. There’s a right way and a wrong way to clean and/or destroy media. This can be done in-house or outsourced.
Create an information destruction plan and execute it consistently. Physical and digital media destruction or sanitation are key components to an effective data loss prevention program.