Destroying Documents: How Shredders Safeguard You from Identity Theft
Hardcopy documents are just as vulnerable as digitized data. Just like how people put a premium on their digital security, businesses should also make sure that hard copies of critical data don’t get into the wrong hands. This way, they preserve trade secrets and protect their employees.
The rising cases of identity theft is an even greater impetus for businesses to safeguard documents containing sensitive information. Allwaysshred.com, a shredding company in the US, claims that identity thieves are always on the lookout for these types of documents.
The Information Thieves Need
Several pieces of information may be used for identity theft, but experts say that thieves only need three to ruin a life: name, birth date, and address. The Telegraph claims that these three bits of information are sufficient to create fake identification documents, which they can use to assume another identity during arrests, for instance.
Access to more personal information allows identity thieves to do more. They can use telephone numbers and e-mails for phishing scams; use passport numbers to move from country to country under a “clean” identity, and; open accounts internationally.
Social Security Numbers are the jackpot — nearly every government and financial institution uses them as the primary identification of individuals. Identity thieves use these to open financial accounts, obtain medical care, steal benefits, and commit crimes under a different name.
Documents that Need to be Shredded
Even in the digital age, a paper trail can open avenues for identity thieves to steal personal information. Although crumpling documents and throwing them out of sight seems like the easier route, it’s still a security risk. After all, it’s easier to rummage through unsecured garbage bins or mailboxes than break through various safety protocols on a secured server.
The Balance, an online business publication, lists the documents that should be destroyed. These are documents containing financial and account information, personal data, junk mail, and child- and school-related mail.
Not all documents have to be destroyed, though. The NBC enumerates ever-important documents that need strict safekeeping, such as legal documents, retirement information, and birth and marriage certificates.
Even in the digital age, identity thieves use old-fashioned ways to commit crimes. It pays off, therefore, to safeguard documents containing sensitive data by sending them straight to the shredder.