Understanding the Importance of Proof of Destruction Certificates

If you run a business, you’re likely to have a number of different sensitive documents involving employee as well as customer information. Mishandling this information can lead to identity theft and create a number of different headaches for your business.

In some cases, mishandling documentation that exposes employee and customer personal information can open your business up to legal liabilities. For that reason, many businesses use a professional shredding company to ensure that any documents with sensitive information that need to be destroyed are done so properly.

When you use a shredding service, you’ll hear terms like COD. This stands for certificate of destruction. The question you may have is what is the Importance of Proof of Destruction.

First of all, feeling uneasy about having an outside company handle documents with sensitive information is common. Fortunately, professional shredding services understand these concerns. To help alleviate them, shredding companies often provide a certificate of destruction every time documents are shredded. In fact, when you work with a reputable company, if you don’t receive a certificate for items that you delivered to be destroyed, you must consider the possibility that those items were not destroyed.

These types of certificates indicate that the items or documents that were delivered to a shredding company have been thoroughly destroyed. It’s a guarantee from the shredding company that the job was done properly. If the shredding company says that they offer secure services but don’t provide proof of destruction, you will want to think about using another service.

Another benefit to these types of certificates is that they shift the responsibility from your business to the shredding company should any information leak out. The Importance of Proof of Destruction is best understood when you realize that you won’t be legally liable should sensitive information be exposed.

Giving documents with sensitive information to somebody outside of your business can be a difficult decision for a business owner to make. However, professional shredding services offer the most comprehensive shredding process possible. Once the items or documents have been shredded, any information on those documents will be a irretrievable. If you want to know more about what professional shredding services can offer, Call Us Today for a FREE Consultation & Estimate.