One of the hallmarks of a company that engages in good business is prioritizing its consumer’s safety and security. Often, businesses will have to obtain sensitive information from their consumers or employees. With that comes great responsibility and hefty fines, should those documents fall into the wrong hands. That is why you must follow the Federal Trade Commission’s guidelines for destroying sensitive documents to become a business that people can trust.
What Is Confidential?
You might find yourself wondering what type of documents you need to destroy. What is confidential? The FTC works on behalf of the consumer to prevent fraud, deception, and unfair business procedures. As such, the FTC has privacy laws in place to protect sensitive information, so there is quite a long list of what they consider confidential. However, you are subject to those laws and The Disposal Rule if your business obtains sensitive consumer information, like a consumer report.
Burn, Shred, or Pulverize?
As a business, you must abide by the FTC guidelines for destroying sensitive documents. The Disposal Rule dictates that you are free to dispose of confidential information in a variety of ways, so long as those documents or virtual files are wholly unobtainable. As such, you may destroy those documents completely, making them impossible for anyone to read or reconstruct. You may burn, shred, pulverize, or use any method to dispose of that information, as long as it is proper and follows those guidelines.
Don’t Take the Gamble
The freedom in terms of disposal is certainly nice, as you don’t have to follow a strict procedure. However, you shouldn’t see that freedom and take it as a sign to do the destruction on your own. Many businesses won’t destroy sensitive documents themselves and will instead outsource document destruction to companies like our experts at Intellishred, who know what they are doing.
At Intellishred, we can come to you with our mobile document shredding services, so you barely have to lift a finger! What’s more, we know how to shred just about anything, including documents, products, hard drives, and computers. When it comes to the safety and privacy of your clientele, you don’t want to take the gamble and do it yourself.
