Document Shredder: Why You Need One
Privacy experts advice individuals to make use of a document shredder to shred tax documents, bank and credit card account statements, bills, and other similar items that can be used by thieves to commit identity or information theft.
The Federal Trade Commission reports that at least 9 million people become victims of identity theft and identity fraud every year. This is very bad news as identity theft and identity fraud can lead to a poor credit card report, a ruined reputation, and a great loss of money. This is where a paper shredder comes into the picture. Your document shredder will help you get rid of any document that contains vital information that may be illegally used by those identity thieves.
What Is a Paper Shredder?
A document shredder is a device that is used to cut papers into either fine particles or into long thin strips. It is normally used by private individuals, businesses, and government organizations to shred and destroy confidential, private, and sensitive documents. This could include bank statements, documents containing your Social Security Number, expired credit and debit cards, receipts, and similar others. The shredding of these documents and any paper containing important personal information minimizes the chances of your identity being stolen and used by the wrong hands.
Why Do You Need a Document Shredder?
Although the simple paper-shredding machine has been in existence for quite some time now, the demand for it increased ever since 2005 when the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act was passed. And if your home or office still does not have one of these machines, you definitely need to buy one. Read on to find out why:
• To prevent identity theft. It has been reported that 1 out of 4 Americans is a target for identity theft. To address this alarming problem, government organizations, business managers, company owners, and even private individuals have considered the significant use of paper shredders instead of merely throwing away pertinent personal information in the garbage where they could be easily retrieved by anybody who intend to illegally use the same information.
• To abide by the law. Using a document shredder means abiding by two main federal laws. The first is the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act that specifies that personal employee information must be destroyed before tossing it out. The second is the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, which states that the privacy of every person’s health information must be respected.
• To protect company information. With the tough competition in today’s businesses, you need to be able to safekeep all documents pertaining your company’s marketing plans and financial data. When these fall to the wrong hands, you might just find it difficult to protect your reputation and eventually cause you to run out of business.
• To save up on cash. Avoid making a big dent on your budget by having an in-house document shredder. Not only is an off-site shredding service expensive, it does not ensure you that your papers are actually being shredded and that someone else will not be grabbing your information.
So for your peace of mind, you shouldn’t be having second thoughts about getting yourself or your office its very own paper shredder. With all the uses you can find for it and all the help it gives, getting a document shredder at a few hundred dollars is definitely all worth it.
