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SHREDDING Everyday in every business, confidential material of all kinds is produced, from customer information and invoices to strategy reports and budgets. All businesses have a great deal of private information at stake, including their own intellectual property and trade secrets. If sensitive company information falls into the wrong hands, the consequences can be as drastic as any outright theft of assets or revenue. The Information Commissioner’s Office has the power to levy fines of up to £500,000 on businesses for serious data losses.


Theft of confidential information fuels the growth of identity theft and corporate fraud. Businesses have a responsibility to themselves and to the wider community to ensure that information and data that could be used for criminal purposes is destroyed. Organisations must also comply with data protection legislation and must protect themselves against misuse.


According to figures released by the UK Identity Fraud Steering Committee, identity fraud costs the UK economy nearly £1.2 billion every year – around £25 for every adult in Britain – and its chief source is not electronic theft but theft of paper-based information.


Practical measures can minimise the risk, such as providing on-site shredding facilities and trusting removal and disposal to reputable companies who will provide Certificates of Destruction once your materials are shredded. These absolve your organisation from legal responsibilities associated with secure data handling.


The chief means of minimising risk is to introduce company-wide protocols that eliminate or reduce the unnecessary printing out of emails and reports. The placing of unshredded confidential documentation in recycling facilities should be actively discouraged.


Most types of business information have value to competitors and, in extreme cases, may even be stolen to order. Such information might include customer lists, research and development projects, marketing plans, product launches and staff records.


Remember that areas surrounding photocopiers are particular areas of risk. For example, staff will often discard sub-standard copies of confidential documents in wastepaper or recycling bins which can then be accessed by determined identity thieves. Don’t trust your company’s security to the office cleaner!


For more information about identity fraud prevention and detection, visit the Information Commissioner’s Office at www.ico.gov.uk


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