As a business owner, you want to do all you can to protect your company and its confidential information, while also complying with privacy laws. Choosing a professional shredding service is one way to safeguard your private data – but it shouldn’t end there. When starting your search to find the best document destruction provider for your organization, you want to be sure that they will supply a Certificate of Destruction on your service date, so you have the peace of mind that your materials are destroyed safely and compliantly.
What is a Certificate of Destruction?
A Certificate of Destruction is a formal document provided to your company by a reputable shredding service as proof that paper documents, hard drives and other media assets have been destroyed in compliance with industry standards and the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA). The destruction certificate also details that all shredded materials have been properly disposed of to ensure that your private data never falls into the wrong hands.
Why are Certificates of Destruction Important?
If your organization handles records that contain sensitive information, you must properly destroy them according to document retention guidelines. Different industries have different information security risks regarding sensitive data, but the following types of confidential data should always be securely destroyed:
- Company trade secrets
- Customer service data
- Employee data
- Financial details
- Hard drive and digital media
- Personally identifiable information (PII)
- Professional data
- Protected health information (PHI)
- Unwanted product
In order to remain compliant with privacy laws, your organization must get a Certificate of Destruction after each service showing that your documents, hard drives or media have been securely destroyed. This destruction certificate guarantees that all data collected cannot be reconstructed and that any remains have been properly disposed of. This not only protects your company from data theft and hefty legal fines, but the Certificate of Destruction also enables you to provide proof of proper destruction in the event of an audit.
What Do Certificates of Destruction Include?
A Certificate of Destruction contains all pertinent information related to your secure shredding service, such as:
- Order number
- Client business name
- Client address
- Name and signature of client representative
- Date and time of service
- Service provider’s name
- Service provider’s contact details
- Type of service
- Method of destruction
- Number of items collected
- Serial numbers of hard drives
- Legal statement confirming the work performed
A Certificate of Destruction should be supplied immediately upon completion of the service either in hard copy form or as an electronic document.
Protect Your Company’s Information Security with Blue-Pencil
Blue-Pencil provides a range of secure shredding options within the Greater Toronto Area and Southern Ontario to help you maintain your company’s information security. No job is too big or small! We offer one-time and reoccurring mobile destruction for all of your needs, whether it is shredding paper records, computer hard drive devices, non-paper media destruction and product destruction. We also provide Certificates of Destruction upon completion of every shredding service for all paper and media types.
To find out how your organization can use our NAID AAA Certified shredding services or for help determining your document shredding needs, call our customer service team or contact us to get a free quote.