When asked the question, what types of documents should be shred, the most obvious documents come to mind. Examples of such documents are, anything with a social security number, banking information and medical files. Privacy is not limited to personal medical records and bank accounts.
Items that aren’t as obvious include, phone logs and messages, visitor logs, drafts of letters, mis-aligned forms and mis-printed copies. The act of discarding such documents prior to destruction conditionally violates several policies set in place for personal protection, including but not limited to HIPPA, Trade Secret Protections, Privacy Act and FACTA. .
Direct violations of the same policies include but are not limited to, brainstorming notes, customer names, drafts of contracts and proposals, obsolete contracts and records, supplier information and training information.
Failing to shred document prior to disposal puts you and your company at risk of sharing private information with identity thieves and competing businesses. For personal protection and to maintain company confidentiality and privacy, nearly all documents in the workplace and any document containing a persons name on it should be shred.
