HOT NEWS - SIX SIMPLE STEPS TO TIGHTER – AND GREENER,SECURITY
Smurfit Kappa Security Shredding is calling for businesses to wise up to the dangers of identity theft, proposing a set of simple measures to help protect confidential information and meet legal requirements, using an environmentally sound shredding solution.
David Bowker, manager of Smurfit Kappa’s security shredding services, says: “A company's most valuable asset is its data, from financial and customer records, personnel and payroll data, to its marketing strategies. If this information is discarded carelessly it can easily fall into the wrong hands, with embarrassing and expensive consequences.”
As founder member of the United Kingdom Security Shredding Association (UKSSA) and member of the British Security Industry Association (BSIA), Smurfit Kappa Security Shredding recommends six steps to secure your confidential information, your identity and your reputation:
Step 1 – Manage your records
Implement an effective information management system throughout your business
process – and stick to it. Conduct an audit of your records to establish
what you are keeping and where, why you are keeping it and for how long.
Then draft a document retention and disposal policy and make sure it is
followed.
Step 2 – Control access
Separate sensitive information, secure it in a safe place and grant access
only to the people who really need it.
Step 3 – Inform your staff
If your staff understand the dangers of identity theft and their legal obligations,
they will be far more careful. Make sure everyone is up to date and communicate
your document management policy to all your employees.
Step 4 – Secure and green disposal
Once a document has reached the end of its life and no longer needs to be
retained, it must be disposed of securely. Look for a BSIA-accredited company
like Smurfit Kappa Security Shredding, which can destroy your information
and recycle it securely, protecting both your company and the environment.
Step 5 – Witness destruction
If necessary you should ask whether you can accompany the confidential waste
to witness its destruction first hand.
Step 6 – Certify destruction
Ensure you are given a destruction certificate.“Smurfit Kappa’s
security shredding service provides an ideal solution for the disposal of
confidential waste, from collection in our secure vehicles, through an unbroken
chain of custody up to the point of destruction at our secure sites in Tamworth
and Glasgow,” says Mr Bowker.
“All material is shredded and baled for onward recycling and all the shredded paper is recycled at UK paper mills to produce toilet tissue, hand towels and writing papers. It’s a really effective way for businesses to make sure they meet their legal obligations and do their bit for the environment at the same time.”
Businesses have a duty of care and a legal obligation under the 1998 Data Protection Act to protect their customers’ and employees’ information. Under this legislation, company data controllers or directors must select an information destruction company which can provide sufficient guarantees of security measures, including destruction being carried out under contract and evidenced in writing.
The Landfill Directive also affects the way you dispose of your documents: from 30 October 2007 non-hazardous waste must be pre-treated before going to landfill. Sorting out recyclable materials, such as paper documents, from your general waste is one way of fulfilling the pre-treatment requirements but it’s also important to make sure your information remains safe throughout the recycling or disposal process.
Unfortunately, as current news headlines demonstrate, this isn’t always the case. Research carried out by Experian found that 41% of London businesses were disposing of confidential financial data via their general waste, and the Information Commissioners Office (ICO) found 11 banks and other financial institutions guilty of breaching the Data Protection Act this year, after all were found to have discarded personal information in waste receptacles outside their premises1.
Smurfit Kappa Security Shredding offers a complete collection and destruction service for all materials including archive material, tapes and magnetic media. It can provide lockable office bins and skips, security bags and seals, and can arrange collections by security vehicles.
“With the BSIA saying that identity fraud costs the UK economy £1.7 billion, staying green and secure makes sound business sense,” says Mr Bowker.
1 Source: ICO press release 13/03/07
About Smurfit Kappa Recycling
Smurfit Kappa Recycling is part of the new Smurfit Kappa Group, the world’s largest fibre-based packaging group. Bringing together the resources and experience of two well known and respected recycling and packaging companies, Jefferson Smurfit and Kappa Packaging, the company unites increased coverage and improved technologies to provide high quality paper collection and recycling services. In the UK, Smurfit Kappa Recycling provides bespoke and sustainable solutions for businesses and organisations of all sizes, including recovery of cardboard, office papers and plastics, security shredding and waste disposal.
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